Dang it!
by katryn-ciardi
Summary: [title change] i felt like changing it again.ü OK, so Katie likes Freddy (duh), and there's an OC here, so if you don't like OCs, don't read this. I promise this isn't a Mary Sue, tho.ü So r&r please!
1. New Girl

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except maybe my clothes but still...I wish I owned School Of Rock but I don't so *pout* poor me. Lol.  
  
Author's Notes: Well, I'm gonna try to do them justice. Please r&r...I'm begging you! Flames are accepted as long as you're nice...I'm a sensitive soul . I'm not gonna mention all the band member's names coz I kinda forgot the others. Sorry! This is gonna be short coz it's 12 already and I just felt like writing. (Hehe!) But please read on, I promise the next chapters will be better.ü  
  
Summary: The band has been going strong for 5 years, all of them choosing to transfer to the same high school, Martin High. Needless to say, they rule the school. That is, up until a new girl joins their class. Can Freddy keep his title as the band's drummer? Read and find out.ü  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mrs. Kreeble was in the middle of an insanely dull lecture about the lifecycle of amoebas and the sophomore class of 2-A was in a stupor. Normally they would be chatting amongst themselves (Mrs. Kreeble was a bit deaf) or passing notes to each other, but there was something about the post-summer heat that made them all drowsy and lethargic.  
  
Freddy was lazily drawing more flames on the cover of his binder, Katie was busy repainting her nails black, Summer was reading another book on managing, Zack was playing air guitar, once in a while mumbling incoherent notes with his feet on his desk and his chair tipped back on two legs, and the rest of them were either sleeping or gazing longingly outside.  
  
Someone knocked at the door, and everyone looked up, silently grateful for the disruption. Zack lost his balance and crashed to the floor. Everyone started laughing at him.  
  
Mrs. Kreeble went on with a rather graphic description of molecules.  
  
Summer raised her hand.  
  
Their teacher looked at her, her expression one of surprise.  
  
'Maybe she forgot she had students,' Katie thought, grinning.  
  
"Yes, Autumn?"  
  
"It's Summer, ma'am," Summer corrected, looking a bit annoyed. From somewhere in the back Zack and Freddy snorted with laughter. She rolled her eyes. "There's someone at the door,"  
  
Mrs. Kreeble turned towards the door, still wearing that absurdly surprised expression on her withered old face. "Oh, yes, yes. Right," She opened the door and a girl with long dirty blond hair and dark blue eyes stepped in. She handed the teacher a piece of paper and started twirling her hair around her finger. She looked like she would rather have had her arm ripped off than be there at that moment.  
  
"Students, students, attention please,"  
  
As if everyone wasn't listening anyway.  
  
"We have a new student in our class. Please give a warm welcome to Miss Nicole Mathers,"  
  
"Hi Nicole," Marta and Alicia called sarcastically, their voices high and falsely sweet. Laughter rang around the room.  
  
"Call me Nic," the blonde muttered, staring down at her mary-jane clad feet.  
  
"What a prep!" Katie whispered to Summer, and they both laughed.  
  
Mrs. Kreeble, oblivious to everyone, told Nicole to go sit beside Freddy, as it was the only empty seat left in the room. At hearing this, Freddy slouched lower in his seat, arm draped around the back of the chair, trying to look tough.  
  
Nicole rolled her eyes and swung her messenger bag off her shoulders. Her pins caught and reflected the morning sun. Katie's view of her went from 'total preppie' to 'total rocker'. Once in her seat, she glanced at Freddy then sighed, burying her face in her arms.  
  
"This sucks," Nicole whispered to herself.  
  
Zack, who was sitting in front of her, heard her and flashed her a smile. "Don't sweat it. It must be tough being new," he said, trying to be nice.  
  
Nicole rolled her eyes again and sat up straight, then thinking better of it, bent down and pulled her binder out from her messenger bag. It was covered with stickers that read 'ARREST ME, I'M A SKATEBOARDER'; 'I LIVE TO ROCK' and 'WICKED'. She flipped it open and, surprisingly, started taking down notes on what Mrs. Kreeble was saying.  
  
Zack shook his head and turned away, labeling her as a total weirdo.  
  
*  
  
It was dismissal, and the band members all met up in front of the school entrance, which was flocked by stone gargoyles. Katie was sitting on one of the gargoyles, reading a chapter from a book Summer was making her read. Summer was off flirting with Zack ('God those two are obvious' Katie thought absentmindedly) and Freddy was drumming his fingers on the underside of his skateboard.  
  
"What did you guys think of the new girl?" Alicia asked out of boredom.  
  
Katie looked up from her book. "Did you see her hair?" she cried, on the verge of laughter. "Talk about dumb blonde!"  
  
"Hey!" Alicia cried indignantly.  
  
"Your hair's not that stereotypical, Leese," Katie reassured her.  
  
"Kind of reminded me of Christina Aguilera's hair, now that you mention it," Summer said thoughtfully, tapping her finger on her crimson lips.  
  
Zack suddenly laughed. "Now that you said 'the name', I'll bet you anything that Freddy's gonna ask her out by the end of the week!"  
  
Freddy looked up from staring at his shoes at hearing his name mentioned. "Huh? What about me?"  
  
Everyone started laughing.  
  
"Oh, nothing, Fred. We're just taking bets on how long it will take you to ask the new girl out," Billy replied sarcastically.  
  
Freddy shot him a death glare. This made the others laugh even harder. "What makes you think I even like her?" he said angrily, shoving his hand into the pocket of his school slacks.  
  
Zack punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Admit it, Fred. You go for any girl you think is hot," he said, shooting his best friend a semi-apologetic look to say it out in the open.  
  
"Yeah," Katie chimed in. "I totally saw you putting on the bad-boy image when she was gonna sit beside you,"  
  
"What bad-boy image?" Freddy asked, looking defensive and insulted.  
  
"You know, when your face goes like this," Katie contorted her face so that her eyes were squinted and her lips were puckered up so that she looked rather like a pug. They all cracked up laughing.  
  
Freddy slammed his skateboard down onto the pavement and swung his backpack over his shoulder. "I don't need this," he muttered, jumping on and skating away.  
  
"Dude, where are you going!?" Zack called after him. "We have band rehersal today!"  
  
Freddy didn't even look back but as he turned down the corner he flashed them a rather rude hand gesture.  
  
Summer gave an indignant 'Ugh!' "He's such an asshole sometimes!" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
Katie frowned. "Do you guys think he really does think she's hot?"  
  
They looked up at her, not knowing what to say.  
  
Tomika suddenly grinned and put a comforting hand on her thigh, which was the only part of her she could reach. "Don't worry, Kaye," she said, trying to sound confident. "He's gonna come around sooner or later, you just have to make it a bit more obvious,"  
  
"A bit more obvious?!" Katie repeated, looking like she had just been run over with a truck. "I've known him since we were BABIES, for crying out loud! How am I supposed to make it more obvious that I like him?"  
  
"Like him?" Zack repeated, ignorant of the situation. "Who does Katie like? Wait, who are we talking about again?"  
  
Summer sighed, secretly loving how adorable he could be sometimes. "Nothing, Zack. Now lets get going! I don't want to be late for rehersals!" 


	2. Supergirl

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and new characters. Sad, I know.  
  
Author's Notes: I'm gonna focus a bit more on Nicole now. Sorry, I can't help it!! ='c For the record, my pairings are Zack/Summer and...I'll keep the rest secret for now..ü  
  
Fudge, I got the names wrong. Alicia's the black girl and Marta's the blond chick. Damn, sorry! I'll try to change it when I have time.^^ I'm really sorry, I was still kinda sleepy then. Oh, and thanks to all those who reviewed! If you think this is another cliché fic, keep reading. *grins* I have major plans for this fic. *cackles evilly* Ehem, anyways, on with the story!  
  
As I promised, it's kind of a long chapter so...yeah.xp Things are really gonna kick into motion in the next one, promise!  
  
Summary: The band has been going strong for 5 years, all of them choosing to transfer to the same high school, Martin High. Needless to say, they rule the school. That is, up until a new girl joins their class. Can Freddy keep his title as the band's drummer? Read and find out.ü  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You're late!" Summer snapped accusingly at Zack and Freddy as they entered the room. Everyone paused in their duties to look at them.  
  
Zack shrugged off his cloth guitar case (the leather one's strap got busted when Freddy yanked it) and slouched onto the couch. He started massaging his temples, looking like something was really wrong. Freddy had swept past everyone and started an angry beat on his drum set.  
  
Katie looked at her best friends in turn. "What's up with you two? Someone die?"  
  
"Oh my God, did you lose Freddy's brain again?" Alicia asked, eyes going wide in mock-awe. Freddy tossed the cushion on his stool at her. "I was just joking, Fred! We all know you lost your mind years ago," she added, laughing.  
  
Summer was sitting beside Zack, arm around his neck. "What happened to you guys anyway?" she asked. "You look like you ate some bad sushi or something,"  
  
Zack looked up at Freddy, who shrugged and went back to playing. "There's a new band called 'Ravyn', and we just found out they were preapproved-"  
  
"Pre-fucking-approved!" Freddy emphasized, angrily hitting the nearest thing, which happened to be the window.  
  
"for that State-wide rock tour," Zack finished. He glared at the glass figurine resting on the coffee table in front of him as though it was the figurine's fault that they had new rivals. "How do you get preapproved for something like that, anyway!?" he hissed angrily.  
  
Summer massaged his arm comfortingly. "Come on, guys. I'm sure we're a lot better than them! I mean, hello? We've worked our asses off the past couple of years and we deserve to be on that tour!"  
  
"Yeah, we'll I'd kill to be able to say that they suck, but we haven't heard them play yet," Freddy said quietly, twirling his drumsticks with his fingers. He sighed and leaned back on the windowsill, where he was now sitting. "But they have a gig tonight at that old club down by 86th, you guys wanna come with us and check 'em out?"  
  
"Sorry, but I have a clarinet rehersal. My recital's on Sunday already, remember? So all of you better be there," Summer said, a hint of threat in her voice.  
  
"Katie?" Freddy asked hopefully.  
  
The girl looked at him apologetically. "I already have plans, sorry,"  
  
"How about you, Lawrence?"  
  
The boy shook his head. "My grandmother's coming into town for a visit. Sorry,"  
  
Freddy sighed. "Marta? Alicia? Tomika?" All three girls shook their heads 'no', as did everyone else.  
  
Freddy shrugged. "Fine, just you and me then, Zack man."  
  
*  
  
Zack stubbed out his cigarette as he saw Freddy's blonde head push through the dense crowd towards him. "Hey dude," he greeted, slapping his hand.  
  
Freddy ran a hand through his hair. "Dammit, didn't have time to gel my hair. Does it look OK?" he asked, looking around as if expecting the Fashion Police to come out and arrest him because his hair looked less dangerous than usual.  
  
Zack sniggered. "You care more about your hair than every girl I know, Summer included,"  
  
Freddy punched him hard on the arm. "Shut up man." He said, looking pissed. Then he looked around the dimly lit alley. "Shit, a lot of people here for one gig, huh? You got the tickets?"  
  
Zack nodded and the both of them made their way inside the club. Once in a while Freddy would grunt in pain as someone stepped on his new shoes or something. The up side was that they didn't have to wait very long for the band to come out and play.  
  
A guy who looked like he was in his mid-20s stepped out, dressed in a black shirt that read 'LEGALIZE HEMP'. He had dreadlocks that went to his back. "Hey y'all, thanks for waiting. We just had a little technical problem-"  
  
Zack and Freddy sniggered. That was what they always made Summer announce when a fight had broken out backstage.  
  
"so here we are. 'Ravyn', ladies and gents!"  
  
The crowd roared as the band trooped onto the stage. The guy with the dreadlocks swung a Gibson fender over his shoulder and did a few practice riffs. Two more guys took the bass and an electric guitar consecutively, and, surprisingly, a girl took her seat behind the Tama drum set. Another guy stepped out soon after, looking murderous, but settled behind the keyboards.  
  
The guy on bass pulled a microphone towards him. He had spiky black hair that would have rivaled Freddy's and had so many piercings he looked like he belong in Ripley's Believe It Or Not. "The first song we're gonna play is an old School of Rock song, so major thanks to them,"  
  
At those words, the band launched into the intro to the first song Zack had ever written and had been played by the band. Zack and Freddy grinned at each other. Zack didn't want to say it but he was admiring how they had changed most of the song. They weren't major changes but subtle ones that made the song sound even better. For one, they changed the lyrics during the part where Tomika was supposed to do her solo and the dude on the keyboards sang it.  
  
"Thanks y'all," The guy with the dreadlocks said, grinning as the crowd went into a new frenzy when they finished their song.  
  
The guy with the piercings took off the strap of his eguitar and switched places with the girl that had been playing the drums. She stepped into the strobe light and they found that she was wearing a short black skirt with a red cross on it, knee-length platform boots, fishnets and a red sleeveless top. Her hair was hidden under a black cap and she was wearing netted gloves with the fingers cut out.  
  
"Hey y'all!" she greeted, pale rose lips breaking into a grin.  
  
The guy with dreads grinned as well. "This is our newbie, Nix,"  
  
The girl rolled her pale blue eyes. "Aaron, our kick-ass lead guitarist!"  
  
"OK, our next song is by Shaun Seether, featuring Ravyn's own version of Amy Lee! Here we go, 'Broken'..."  
  
The girl named Nix stepped up to the front mic and started the guitar plucking.  
  
"I wanted you to know that I love the way you laugh. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away.... I keep your photograph, and I know it serves me well. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain..." Aaron wailed.  
  
Then Nix joined in. "'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right when you've gone away..."  
  
Aaron again with the bridge. "You've gone away. You don't feel me here...anymore..."  
  
"The worst is over now, and we can breathe again. I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away. There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain," Nix sang, rivaling Amy Lee herself.  
  
"'Cause I'm broken when I'm open, and I don't feel like I am strong enough. 'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right when you've gone away.... " both sang.  
  
Then came a 20 second long instrumental interlude.  
  
"'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right when  
you're gone..."  
  
"You're gone away, you don't feel me here... anymore...."  
  
The crowd roared.  
  
"All right, one last song, and we're giving the newbie to redeem herself after those excruciating notes!" the guy on the piano called.  
  
Nix stuck her tongue out at him, looking adorable. "Well, y'all, I'm a major Evanescence fan. So here's 'Taking Over Me'...  
  
"You don't remember me but I remember you... I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you But who can decide what they dream? And dream I do... I believe in you, I'll give everything just find you. I have to be with you To live To breathe You're taking over me Have you forgotten all I know And all we had? You saw me mourning my love for you And touched my hand; I knew you loved me then. I believe in you I'll give up everything just to find you, I have to be with you To live To breathe You're taking over me. I look in the mirror and see your lies And if look enough, So many things inside that are just like you are Taking over I believe in you, I'll give up everything just to find you I have to be with you, To live To breathe You're taking over me... I believe in you, I'll give up everything just to find you I have to be with you To live To breathe You're taking over... Taking over me You're taking over me Taking over... Taking over me..."  
  
She lifted her eyes from doing a slamming guitar solo and looked at Zack and Freddy. Her eyes widened slightly but then she smirked and twirled around, giving them a little show. Zack stared at her, mouth wide open in awe, and Freddy's eyes were narrowed slightly, but he was smiling.  
  
He watched her as her fingers flew across the frets and her body moved in time with the music. She was beautiful.  
  
After Ravyn's set, Zack bullied Freddy into accompanying him outside for a quick smoke. No one knew that Zack had been a smoker for a year now and the band, especially Dewey, would kill him if they found out. But he trusted Freddy, so they bailed and ducked out of the dark club.  
  
Zack was already outside and was fumbling in his pockets for his lighter when he heard Freddy give a loud 'Umph!'  
  
This guy that looked around a few years older than them with a ponytail was standing in front of the blonde imperiously. "Watch where I'm going, you little brat," he snapped and turned to go back inside.  
  
"That's it!" Freddy exploded. "I've been stepped on 6 times now and some steroid-pumped idiot like you is telling me off!? What the hell is wrong with the people here!? Can't you see where one person is going or are you blind? Wow, blind AND stupid. You're just a modern-day Einstein, aren't you!?"  
  
The guy looked back at him, then, smirking, motioned for about three even bigger guys to join him. "What did you just say, kid?" he said with a growl.  
  
Freddy, unfazed, drew himself up to his full height, which wasn't really that impressive since he was bit short for his age. "Oh, so you're deaf, too! Talk about-"  
  
Zack intervened. "Excuse me?" he said, looking weary and tired. "Is there a problem here?"  
  
"Yeah. If you don't get this little rodent out of my sight in the next two seconds, BOTH of you are gonna be eating dirt."  
  
Zack's eyebrows went up despite himself. "Hey, man, no need for any threats and shit. You guys just had a misunderstanding here, right? So-"  
  
One of the guys pretended to check his watch. "That's it, 2 seconds past. You two are getting your asses kicked,"  
  
The four of them grabbed Zack and Freddy and yanked them to the small alleyway beside the club.  
  
"FUCK YOU!" Freddy yelled angrily, trying to get the thug off him by kicking his shin, but the result was the other guy in front of him gave him a strong punch square on the nose. He yelled as he bled freely.  
  
"Freddy!" Zack called, panicking now.  
  
The dude that stared it all smirked and started laughing like an idiot. "Worried about your boyfriend are you?"  
  
Zack grimaced. "Up yours, asshole!"  
  
*  
  
"Bye, Nix! See you next week?"  
  
"Yeah, bye you guys!"  
  
"You sure you don't want us to walk you home or anything?"  
  
"No thanks, Rip. I'll be fine. You guys take care, OK?"  
  
"You too! Bye, Nix!"  
  
Nicole buried her hands into the pockets of her parka and sighed happily. Every sucky thing that had happened that week vanished the second she stepped onto the stage. That was one of the things she loved about being in Ravyn; It made her feel wanted. Still wearing a grin, she turned down the small alley like she usually did because it was shorter.  
  
Her blue eyes went wide at the scene unfolding before her. She ran and pushed away the nearest thug. "Matt! Jacob! Leo! Maurice! What in the hell are you guys doing!?" she cried, pushing them away from the two highschoolers. In the process her hat fell off and her blond hair flew around her, accenting her anger.  
  
Maurice, the guy with the ponytail, disconnected his fist from Zack's ribs. "Nix, I thought you guys'd still be inside..."  
  
"Maurice!" Nicole screamed. "GET OUT OF HERE AND NEVER TOUCH THESE TWO AGAIN!!" She turned to Zack and Freddy, who were in varying degrees of pain. She ignored a few grunts of apology and helped Zack sit up. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Who're you?" Zack mumbled dimly.  
  
"Nix...it's me, Nicole, the girl who sits behind you in class. Are you all right? Anything broken?" she prompted, inspecting his face. He had a black eye and a monster bruise on his cheek but he didn't look that horrible.  
  
"I'm fine, nothing's broken," Zack muttered. "Freddy," He attempted to point in his best friend's direction but found he didn't have enough energy after trying to fight them off.  
  
Nicole left him when she was sure he was leaning on the stone wall and went over to Freddy, who was still bleeding profusely. She helped him sit up and tilted his head back. She pinched his nose.  
  
Freddy grunted. He opened his eyes slightly when he felt his body move. He felt like he was about to die. Every inch of his body hurt like hell but when he opened his eyes slightly he saw probably the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. He grunted again, wanting to ask where he was but then he blanked out.  
  
"He's out cold," Nicole stated and turned back to Zack. "Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
The boy took a deep breath before answering. "I need to lie down,"  
  
She lowered Freddy's head onto her lap and rummaged around in her bag. "Where's a cell phone when you need it?" she hissed angrily. She finally found it and speed-dialed something. She watched Freddy sleep as she arranged for her father's driver to pick her up. God, he was handsome when he wasn't shooting someone a death-glare.  
  
She stood up and cushioned his head with her bag then walked over to Zack. She pushed his bangs away from his face and inspected his black eye. "You need to go to a hospital, you know that, don't you?"  
  
Zack nodded slightly. "I don't think I broke anything," he told her.  
  
"Where does it hurt?"  
  
He pointed to his chest. "My pride hurts," he said, smiling slightly then winced. God, even smiling hurt!  
  
Nicole laughed slightly. His stomach did an unexpected back flip. "Don't sweat it, those guys are total jerks. They pick on everyone but they're scared of me. Imagine, scared of a girl!"  
  
"You don't seem to have very much self-confidence," Zack stated, his words sloppy. He wanted to keep talking so that he wouldn't black out like Freddy did.  
  
She frowned slightly. "Maybe."  
  
A car pulled up in front of the street and a man dressed in black hurried over.  
  
Nicole helped Zack stand up while the driver carried Freddy. "OK with your parents to spend the night?" she asked him.  
  
Zack was dimly aware that he was so close to her body but he was concentrating on staying conscious. "Call them tomorrow," he said, voice barely above a whisper.  
  
They got into the car. Freddy was lying down in the back seat, and Zack was lying down as well, but his head rested on Nicole's lap.  
  
"Ma'am, shall we go to your father's?" the driver queried, looking at the young girl's face in the rearview mirror. She looked paler than usual.  
  
"He's still out?" she asked.  
  
"He'll come home a bit late, ma'am,"  
  
"Home then," 


	3. Katie's Resolution

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the chocolate bar I'm eating right now. Oh, and the plot and Nicole. I wish I owned Freddy, though. Hahaha.  
  
Author's Notes: I'm gonna shift POVs a lot in this chapter. Sorry if it'll be a bit confusing. Again, I'm sorry about that blonde thing. I was confused!! Lol. Thanks to all those who reviewed! ü You touched my heart! Hahaha!  
  
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Katie checked her watch for the enth time that morning and started tapping her foot again. Summer rolled her eyes. "Katie, would you PLEASE stop doing that?" she snapped.  
  
Katie looked up from glaring at the vase on the table. "Well they're late!" she cried exasperatedly. Her hands clenched into fists in annoyance. She had been planning to ask Freddy out that day. The four of them were supposed to go to the mall and check out new instruments and new gigs so they could practice for the auditions for ROCKapella, the Statewide rock tour Zack was so obsessed about. She looked up at Summer, who was starting to bite her nails again despite her new French tip manicure.  
  
"Do you think something's happened to them?" she asked nervously. "I mean, they wouldn't normally ditch us...would they?"  
  
Katie sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her brown eyes narrowed as she scanned the crowd outside the café, trying to look for Zack's mess of black hair or Freddy's spikes. "At this point, I'm not so sure anymore,"  
  
~*~  
  
Beams of sunlight penetrated the blinds and illuminated the dust mites floating in the air. Freddy squeezed his eyes and turned to his side, trying to block out the noise outside. He grabbed a pillow and put it over his head, then a stabbing pain shot through him. He sat up rigidly and tried to massage his ribs.  
  
"Finally, you're awake," Zack's voice came from his left side. Freddy turned to find his best friend propped up with pillows, looking like a truck had hit him.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Freddy cried, pointing at Zack's black eye and bruises.  
  
Zack laughed. "Oh, don't worry about me, dude. You should go look in the mirror,"  
  
"What's that supposed to..." He stood up and stumbled to the door which he assumed lead to the bathroom. His leg hurt for some reason. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"  
  
Zack shrugged, but he looked strangely triumphant. "Told you so," he said haughtily.  
  
Freddy's blond head appeared again from the doorway. "I can't go to school looking like this!" he screamed, voice near to panicking.  
  
"Thought so," Zack muttered to himself. Then he told Freddy, "Don't sweat it, dude. It's Saturday, remember? We watched Ravyn's gig last night, Friday,"  
  
Freddy finally stepped out of the bathroom and sat down at the foot of the single bed. "Last night...THOSE ASSHOLES!" He started a string of curse words and threats like "When I find those stupid gorillas I'm gonna grab my drumsticks and shove them up their ass!"  
  
Zack laughed at the stupidity of some of the things the other boy was ranting about. Then suddenly he stopped.  
  
"Wait. Oh, shut up for a bit, Fred." Zack rolled his eyes. "Do you have any idea where we are?"  
  
This time it was Freddy's turn to roll his eyes. "Gee, no, Zack. I woke up before you and I explored, remember?" he said sarcastically.  
  
Zack threw him a dirty look. "You idiot, I woke up and then saw you moving around. I don't really remember much. Just getting beaten up then talking to...someone," He pulled his knees up to his chin and buried his face in his hands, trying to think. He remembered talking to someone and then getting into a car, and then he blacked out.  
  
Freddy paused. He wanted to tell Zack about the girl he saw last night but maybe it had just been a dream. Or maybe he had been so close to death that he'd seen an angel? Freddy snorted at his own thought. When he died, he was sure he wouldn't be going to Heaven, if it really existed, that was.  
  
"Wow, finally you two are awake," a voice called from the doorway.  
  
Zack and Freddy looked up, surprised at the sudden intrusion.  
  
Nicole smirked slightly, eyebrow raised. Zack was starting to look better but Freddy was the one who had gotten a majority of Maurice's anger. He had a large cut on his cheek and one on his forehead, not to mention bruises and a cut lip. She put the tray she was carrying down on the end table between the two beds and took a piece of bacon.  
  
"Nicole?" Zack was the first to speak.  
  
She swallowed first before replying. "Yep," she said, taking off the cap she was wearing. Her long golden hair fell down to her waist. "You two don't seem to recognize me without seeing my hair, do you?"  
  
Freddy bit his lip. She was the girl he'd seen last night! How hadn't he recognized her when she sat beside him all of Thursday when she first came into their class?!  
  
Nicole looked around the room. "Sorry for putting you guys in this guest room. I thought you two'd freak if you woke up alone or something," she apologized then sat down on Zack's bed. "You guys OK?" she asked, looking from one boy to the other.  
  
Freddy ran a hand through his hair self-consciously. "I need hair gel," he said quietly.  
  
Nicole laughed. "You're just like my little brother. He doesn't go out of his room without fixing his hair,"  
  
"Fred's different." Zack stated, and Freddy almost beamed at him were it not for his following sentence. "He doesn't get out of BED without his hair fixed." He and Nicole laughed.  
  
Freddy glared at him. He was flirting! He was FLIRTING!! Summer would freak if she found out. But then, he reminded himself, Zack had denied that he felt anything for Summer. Whatever.  
  
"Anyway, here," She dug into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out two small vials. "You should put this on all your bruises. Especially you," She handed one to Zack, pointing at the bruise on his cheek. "If you guys run out you're always welcome to come back here,"  
  
"Where is here, exactly?" Freddy asked as he caught the vial she tossed him.  
  
Nicole shrugged and, leaning back, rested a hand on Zack's knee. "My dad's house. The village is just a few blocks from the school so now I live with him,"  
  
"Where did you use to study?" Zack asked curiously.  
  
"Manhattan School of the Arts and Technology," she replied shortly.  
  
"You're from New York?" Freddy asked incredulously the same time Zack cried, "MSAT!?"  
  
Nicole sighed, as though she had been expecting that from them. "My mum lives there and by some stroke of luck I got into MSAT. I got bored after grade school there, so I moved in with my dad and younger brother. Well, that and my mum wanted me to try out for Julliard," She shrugged and slid her cap back on.  
  
Freddy and Zack stared at each other in awe. They would never have expected someone like her to be so, well, experienced. This explained how good she was that night at the club.  
  
"You guys should eat breakfast. The driver can drop you guys off wherever you want to go. I called your parents and told them you were sleeping over. Don't worry, I just said that you felt like it, but you have to explain when you get home tonight." She stood up and smoothed down the creases on her jeans. "Anything else?"  
  
"Why are you helping us out?" Zack asked, eyebrows drawn together in suspicion.  
  
Nicole raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him. "You two are members of School of Rock, right? Or was I confused and saved the wrong people?"  
  
Both boys laughed slightly. "Yeah, we are, but why?" Zack pressed.  
  
Nicole sat down beside Freddy, who turned a bit red, which made him look sickly because of all his injuries. "You're my classmates, I'm a fan of your band, and..." She paused then smiled slightly in her trademark minx-like way. "both of you are hot, what can I say?" She started laughing, ignorant of the fact that both boys were blushing.  
  
"Oh shit," Freddy hissed, touching the cut on his forehead. He stared at the fresh blood on his fingertips, wincing.  
  
She stood up. "Come with me, I have something so that that wont scar."  
  
Zack exchanged looks with Freddy then shrugged. "Whatever, man,"  
  
~*~  
  
Katie groaned as he lifted an arm out from her blankets to turn off the incessant beeping of her alarm clock. Her fingers clumsily knocked over a glass of water in the process. She flipped onto her back and raised a hand to cover her eyes from the early morning sun. She groaned again, biting down on her red lips as she recalled the dream she had that night.  
  
They were at the mall, the way they were supposed to be that day. Summer was wearing an absurdly bright pink dress and was singing in a high, pitchy tune, accompanied by Zack on the guitar. He was, curiously enough, wearing a tuxedo with a large pink rose. At that point, Katie turned around to find Freddy staring at her, wearing a battered sweatshirt that she knew he loved. Freddy took her hand, making her do that body-blush thing no one seemed to be that aware of. After all, she seldom blushed, and the only time she ever did was whenever she and Freddy were in close contact with one another. And now they were.  
  
Freddy lead her to an escalator, and they rode up. Katie peered down and saw that the floor below them had vanished, as did the ceiling. Now the sky peered down at them, stars innocently twinkling and illuminating the little swirls that had appeared in the very fabric of the setting. In the center of the swirls it seemed like all the memories Katie had with Freddy were playing.  
  
The whole time the escalator kept going up and up.  
  
Katie stared at the back of Freddy's head. "Where are we going?" she asked him, feeling slightly giddy as she noticed that he hadn't let go of her hand.  
  
He looked back at her, blue eyes more intense than she'd ever seen them, and she felt herself drowning.  
  
The dream Freddy was now leaning towards her. Three inches.... Two inches.... Their faces were an inch apart; so close that Katie could feel his breath on her lips.  
  
"Kaye, I-"  
  
Then the Goddamn alarm went off.  
  
Katie cursed under her breath then sat up. She finally hit the snooze button on her alarm clock, glaring at it as if she could mentally send it flying across the room and slam against the opposite wall. She gave up after a few seconds and ran a hand through her waist-length auburn hair.  
  
Katie swung her feet onto the shag carpet and yelped, forgetting that she had spilled water there. She cursed again then made her way to the bathroom to take a cold shower. A very cold shower.  
  
'This is as good as it's ever gonna get,' Katie told her reflection 15 minutes later, sizing herself up.  
  
All her life all her friends treated her as 'just Katie'. Just one of the guys, just another face in the crowd, just a band member, just a friend. She cringed at the last one. Was that how Freddy saw her? As just a friend? Would she always be just his friend and never his girlfriend?  
  
Katie slumped onto the floor with a sigh. She buried her head in her hands, damning herself to hell. Why did she have to do this right now? Why did she do this at all!? It just made her feel so invalidated, if that was even a word. The fact was that Freddy would never go for a girl like her. He went for, well, girls. Girls who wore too much make-up and cared too much about their hair. Girls who had perfect bodies and perfect faces but had zero beneath it all. And the painful fact was that they only went for Freddy because they thought he was the same as them.  
  
They didn't like him because he was smart; something he'd been trying to hide since 4th grade when their English teacher had embarrassed him in front of the class by saying "Frederick, you're a modern-day Homer!" And they sure as hell didn't like him because he was funny. Funny enough to get her from crying her eyes out to laughing her ass off like that time in 3rd grade. She could go on and on about Spazzy McGeek, but the truth was it really wasn't any of that stuff that made her like him so much.  
  
'Like?' she teased herself.  
  
'Fine, fine. I LOVE HIM!! Satisfied?'  
  
"Oh my God," she said aloud. "I'm talking to myself now! Arrgh!" She yanked her hair and hit her forehead repeatedly on her knees. "I hate you for doing this to me, Freddy!" she screamed, fists hitting the floor in helpless retaliation. She was shocked to find herself crying like this. And over Freddy, for God's sakes!  
  
Finally getting a grip, Katie stood up and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Big brown eyes stared back at her, slightly puffy and her cheeks were slightly flushed.  
  
"That's it!" she told herself. "No more little miss nice Katie!"  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: did you like it? Aaargh!! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make Katie seem like a total nutjob, it's just I wanted to show how much she loved Freddy and how much she hates not being able to show it. To all you Katie fans out there, I'm sorry!! Don't worry, I love her too!ü 


	4. Perfect

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The song "Hello" belongs to one of the greatest rock bands evah...Evanescence. *bows*  
  
Author's Notes: This chappie is dedicated to xxSpAzZiExx, who dedicated her second chapter to me! *Hugs* Thanks, I'm so touched!! Hope y'all like this one...Sorry it took so long to post. I've been kinda busy...Ehe.xp  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey, Kaye," Freddy greeted Katie as he walked into the classroom the following Monday morning. He dropped his bag onto the floor beside his chair and joined the rest of the band.  
  
"Wow, you're early," Marta noted absentmindedly. The she did a double take the moment she saw his face. "Oh my GOD!" she half-screamed, hand over her mouth. "What happened to you!?"  
  
Hearing this, Katie immediately stopped ignoring him, as did Summer. Katie felt her heart actually stop beating when she saw how awful Freddy looked. Well, he could never look awful to her, but he looked like he survived diving head first into a meat shredder.  
  
"What happened to you!?" Katie, Summer, Marta, Alicia and Eleni cried.  
  
Freddy shrugged. The upside to this was that he would get more attention and sympathy from the other girls in his year. Might as well act like hero. Snigger. "Oh, it was nothing. Zack and I got into a fight at that club we went to last Friday," he replied with a dramatic sigh.  
  
Summer's eyebrows furrowed. "You pulled Zack into another one of your stupid testosterone-fueled fights?" she said incredulously. "You IDIOT!" She slapped the side of Freddy's head in anger.  
  
The 'offending' boy growled in retaliation. "Look, Summer, I didn't start that, OK? And Zack wasn't beaten up as badly as I was!"  
  
Katie rolled her eyes. What a tragic hero he was, really.  
  
"So you guys were too beaten up to meet them," She looked pointedly at Summer and Katie. "last Saturday AND go to Summer's recital?" Marta clarified.  
  
Freddy nodded, all the details slowly coming to him. The truth was, he'd forgotten all about going out and Summer's recital. He'd gotten home late on Saturday because he and Zack spent it at Nicole's house, which was way cool because they even had a recording studio. And, well, he'd pretty much slept through all of Sunday.  
  
"There's something fishy about you today," Alicia noted, her nose wrinkling slightly.  
  
Freddy threw his hands up in defeat. "God, if you don't believe me, ask Zack! He's probably on his way here right now! He just walked Nix to her locker,"  
  
This got Summer's attention. Her amber eyes narrowed as she fixed them on Freddy. "Nix? Who in the hell is Nix?" she said, tone choppy.  
  
"Nic," Freddy deadpanned. Eyebrows rose all around him. "Nicole?" he supplied, looking exasperated. No one spoke. "Oh, for God's sake, the new girl!"  
  
"Oh..." Nods all around.  
  
Then it sunk in. "WHAT!?" Summer shrieked.  
  
Suddenly laughter floated into the room as Zack and Nicole entered. They walked together to their seats at the back of the room and kept talking once they sat down.  
  
"Isn't he going to join us anytime soon?" Alicia said to no one in particular, gazing expectantly at their lead guitarist.  
  
Freddy suddenly stood up and walked towards them.  
  
"Freddy!" Summer called angrily.  
  
The boy just shrugged and sat down beside Nicole, joining their conversation.  
  
Katie and Summer glared at them.  
  
"You have to hand it to her," Tomika said, attempting to break the tension. "She's been here barely two days and she's got the two cutest guys in class under her," She laughed and failed miserably.  
  
Soon the teacher walked in and everyone went back to their seats as class started.  
  
~*~  
  
"Hey, Nicole," Katie greeted as she walked over to the other's girl's seat in the back. Nicole looked up from straightening the papers in her binder.  
  
"Yo, Katie," she returned, looking a bit confused.  
  
"You wanna eat lunch with us?" Katie offered, smiling in a friendly way.  
  
Nicole shut her binder and stood up. "Uhm, yeah, sure. Thanks," She grinned and walked out with her.  
  
Michael Rogers, a popular senior, walked over to them in the lunch hall. Most girls regarded him as a hottie because of his black hair and gorgeous blue eyes, but he was a total asshole. He thought he was better than everyone else because he was the captain of Martin High's 1st-string football team.  
  
"Hey, Mathers," he greeted, sitting down next to Nicole.  
  
Said girl rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Rogers?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
He grinned in that 'I-know-I'm-hot' jock way and put an arm around her shoulders. "I just want to clarify what time we're meeting tonight," he replied, ignorant of the glare she was shooting him.  
  
Katie, Marta, Alicia, Eleni and Tomika stared down at their food, acting as if they weren't worthy to look at Michael.  
  
Nicole shrugged off his arm and looked at him as if he were more disgusting than a cockroach. "Did you just get discharged from the mental hospital or something? I don't remember agreeing to go out with you, Rogers, so please stop ruining my day with your unwelcome visits," she snapped and turned back to her rather unappetizing cafeteria lunch.  
  
Michael frowned, which looked rather unattractive on him and stormed off back to the popular kids table.  
  
"Anyway, about ROCKapella," Nicole continued, taking a bite of what she hoped was macaroni and cheese.  
  
"I can't believe you just totally shut down Michael Rogers!" Alicia exclaimed. "Are you aware of how many girls would kill to even talk to him?"  
  
"Why, are you one of them?" Nicole asked, smirking slightly.  
  
Alicia snorted but she looked a bit pink around the cheeks. "No way. I go for more than just looks, Mathers,"  
  
"Call me Nix. Mathers reminds me too much of my father," Nicole said, taking a sip of her Pepsi. "Ahh, been a long time since I've had a soda," she noted absently.  
  
"Are you related to Eminem or something?" Marta suddenly asked. "Coz he's Marshall Mathers, right?" She looked around the table for signs of agreement.  
  
"I wish! My dad's a working stiff and I don't think Eminem would bother having a niece like me," she laughed.  
  
They continued talking about fashion and boys, and then inevitably, music.  
  
"Oh yeah, we have practice tomorrow, don't forget," Eleni reminded them.  
  
"Oh my god, that's so cool. A School of Rock rehearsal! Must be cool," Nicole commented.  
  
Katie's eyebrows went up. "You've heard of us?" she queried.  
  
"I confess," Nicole raised both hands up, looking solemn. "I have the CD, been to 5 concerts and have a poster of you hanging on my bedroom wall. Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of yours,"  
  
Everyone beamed at her.  
  
"That's pretty cool, I've never met a fan of ours before," Alicia said. "You want our autograph?" she offered. Eleni jabbed her in the ribs. "What? She's a fan!"  
  
Nicole laughed. "That'd be way cool. Thanks, Alicia,"  
  
"And that hurt, Eleni!" Alicia frowned. Eleni sighed and turned back to nibbling on her piece of toast, muttering, "You're so tactless,"  
  
Katie laughed then her brown eyes noticed the clock hanging on the cafeteria wall. "Oh my god, we're gonna be late for music class!"  
  
~*~  
  
"Good afternoon, students," Ms. Bergkamp greeted cheerfully as she entered the music room.  
  
The class echoed dully, "Good afternoon, Miss Bergkamp,"  
  
"Well, I see you're all perky today," she said sarcastically, peering at them from above her glasses. She checked her clipboard and smiled. "We have a new student! Miss Mathers, is it?"  
  
Nicole raised her hand after Freddy tapped her on the head with his drumstick to bring her attention to the present. She was busy talking to Zack, which seemed to have been a regular occurrence throughout the day. "Call me Nix or Nicole," she said, smiling in a non-threatening way.  
  
Summer made gagging noises behind her back.  
  
"Very well then. Do you happen to play any instruments?" Ms. Bergkamp asked her, green eyes friendly.  
  
Nicole stood up and nervously tugged at the loose thread on the hem of her school blouse. "Umm, I play a little bit of everything, I guess. Guitar, bass, drums, piano, violin, the triangle...." She trailed off as the class roared with laughter.  
  
Ms. Bergkamp smirked slightly, green eyes glittering. "Well, Lawrence is absent today, and he normally plays the piano. Would you like to perform a piece for us?" she offered, pointing towards the seat behind their old school piano.  
  
The fourteen-year-old looked queasy. "Miss, I'm not really good at performing-"  
  
Freddy did the three beat thing they did at comedy clubs after someone said his punch line. Nicole turned around and glared at him.  
  
Sighing, she turned back to her teacher. "What would you like me to play, miss?"  
  
"Whatever song you want to."  
  
"Do I have to sing?"  
  
Zack interrupted. "She's got a great voice,"  
  
Nicole twisted his ear discreetly, smiling innocently at the teacher the whole time. "Don't listen to him, he's insane. Forgot his medication this morning." She chuckled feebly.  
  
Ms. Bergkamp just raised an eyebrow. "That was the lamest excuse ever, Miss Mathers, now play us something or I will have to note you down as absent for today,"  
  
Nicole looked surprised at this. She had thought that the teacher was pretty cool but she was pretty mean. She sighed and sat down behind the piano, her fingers running down the ivory keys as though trying to remember how to use them. For some reason the whole class sat watching her, expecting something...anything.  
  
She started playing and the deliberately slow notes hung in the air around them like memories waiting to be remembered. "Playground school bell rings again.... Rain clouds come to play again. Has no one told you she's not breathing? Hello, I'm your mind, giving you someone to talk to.... Hello,"  
  
She looked up for a second to find everyone staring at her intently, expecting her to fail. She frowned. She hated being self-conscious but once she started a song she meant to finish it.  
  
"If I smile and don't believe, soon I know I'll wake up from this dream. Don't try to fix me I'm not broken. Hello...I am the lie, living for you so you can hide.... Don't cry....  
  
"Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping. Hello, I'm still here.... All that's left of yesterday."  
  
"Whoa," Katie whispered as applause rose around her. Nicole was unbelievable! She made Lawrence look like a 5-year-old pounding on a toy piano, which was saying something because Lawrence was THE best pianist she'd ever heard. And her voice! It was...it was...mind-blowing.  
  
"Very well done, Miss Mathers, you may take your seat," Ms. Bergkamp said, beaming as she scribbled something down on her clipboard.  
  
"Showoff," Summer said in a loud voice as Nicole sat back down between Marizza and Leanne.  
  
Nicole twisted around her seat, looking like she wanted to laugh but was holding it in because it was a serious situation. "Hathaway, why do you hate me so much?" she asked innocently.  
  
In return, the other girl sneered at her. Summer tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder and leaned forward across her desk so that the teacher wouldn't hear her. "Because you're nothing but a poseur, Mathers, and you think you can get anything you want. Let me tell you now that I don't let that happen. I'm not gonna lie around and watch you try to take over,"  
  
"Who said I wanted anything that belonged to you?" Nicole deadpanned.  
  
Summer snorted, rolled her eyes and leaned back into her seat, all the while staring haughtily at the younger girl like she had won the argument.  
  
Nicole turned back to the teacher with a sigh. Marizza raised an eyebrow at Summer but turned back to Ms. Bergkamp as well. Zack was looking at Summer like he was seeing her for the first time but soon the teacher called them all to take their positions at their respective instruments.  
  
Freddy passed the teacher's desk as he made his way to the school drumset, and Ms. Bergkamp stopped him.  
  
"Frederick Jones, what happened to you?" she asked, green eyes wide in shock.  
  
Freddy ran a hand through his hair nervously, considering how much he was allowed to tell her. If he said he'd gotten into a fight he might get into trouble with the principal, but then it wasn't a fight within the school. "Don't worry about it, teach." He grinned. "I just got pulled into a fight when I went to a concert last week. Some skinhead from Lincon prep brought a razor into the mosh pit. No biggie,"  
  
Ms. Bergkamp frowned. "Frederick, you know I've always been lenient with this class' choice of music, but if you end up looking like this I'm afraid I'm going to have to report it to the principal,"  
  
"What!?" Freddy gasped. "Why!? I mean, having a band isn't against school rules or anything.... Is it?" he added nervously.  
  
"No, it isn't, but anything that endangers the students is." she stated, expression apologetic.  
  
"It's not 'endangering' us, teach! Zack and I just went to a gig, that's it!" He lowered his voice and took a step closer to her. "Please don't do this to the band, miss teach. They didn't do anything wrong and we have a major gig to look forward to." He called upon every ounce of cuteness he had and flashed her a pout and puppy dog eyes (A/N: *drool*). "Please?"  
  
Ms. Bergkamp was still looking at him in a disapproving way but then she smiled. "Very well, Frederick. But if I ever see you looking like this it'll be a different story. Now go, we have a lot to practice for today,"  
  
Freddy flashed her his most adorable grin and went to the drumset.  
  
~*~  
  
The rest of the week had passed by without much happening, except for Summer's constant verbal abuse towards Nicole, Lawrence's strange absence and Gordon causing an explosion when they had a sermon about Chem for science class.  
  
Freddy was sitting on a window sill by a staircase facing the front of the school. Surprisingly, he was poring over his books, looking so focused that his eyes were crossed. Katie smiled warmly and went down the stairs to talk to him.  
  
She shifted her books to her other arm and sat down in front of him. "Hey, Fred. Whatcha doing?" she asked brightly.  
  
Surprised, the older boy looked up, blue eyes wide. "Oh, hey Kaye." He smiled slightly, looking grateful for her disturbing him. He stuffed a few sheets of paper into his binder so that she could see that they were covering his bio textbook. "Nothing, it's just some homework I didn't get to do."  
  
Katie looked at them. "Wait, this is due next week," She stared up at him curiously.  
  
Freddy shrugged. "I'm gonna be kinda busy this weekend," he answered simply. He didn't know what it was but Katie looked different since last week. "Are you doing something with your hair?" he asked.  
  
Katie laughed, loving that he finally noticed. "I cut it shorter, Freddy,"  
  
"Oh," he nodded, looking at her more closely now. Her up-to-the-waist raven black hair had been cut to her elbow and she was wearing kohl around her eyes. He had to admit, she looked cool. "I like it," he smiled.  
  
She tried vainly to push down the heat making it's way up to her face. She looked flustered and pleased at the same time. "Thanks,"  
  
Silence fell between them, but it wasn;t the uncomfortable kind. It felt good to just sit with his best friend and watch as people passed by, caught up in their own lives full of school and where to go for the weekend.  
  
"Hey," Freddy was the first to break the silence. His eyes were still fixated on a small freshman who was animatedly talking to her clique, but Katie knew he was talking to her. "You doing anything this weekend?" She shook her head 'no'. "You wanna come with me tomorrow night to Steps?"  
  
Katie grinned. "Yeah, sure." They smiled at each other for a while and then she checked her watch; she was late to meet Marta and the others at the Mystique Café. "Well, I have to go,"  
  
"Yeah, I'll just pick you up tomorrow at around 7, that OK?"  
  
"Perfect!" and she sped down the stairs, full of energy that she just had to burn it off. Freddy Jones had asked her out. Everything really was perfect!  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: Yay! I finished it! Hehehe. I need your advice coz I'm stumped! What should my pairings be? Coz I originally wanted it to be Freddy/Nicole, Katie/OC, Zack/Summer then my friend, Fleurette, wanted it to be Zack/Nicole, Freddy/Katie!!  
  
See that little button down there? Please press it and tell me what you think!ü Thanks so much! The first one to review this chapter gets to have ANYTHING they want happen in the next chapter! Hahaha! Yes, I am bribing you! Now go press it! Please?ü 


	5. The Date Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own SOR. I don't own the piece of cake I'm eating right now (haha). And now, I don't even own the plot! *Sobs* "One girl revolution" belongs to Superchic[k], "yeah" belongs to Ursher (sorry, I love saying thatü) and one of the greatest songs of all time, "Hanging by a Moment" belongs to Lifehouse. More Evanescence songs in the next one...teehee.ü  
  
Author's Notes: These are my best friend's ideas! *crowd cheers* I'm just writing them down for her.ü Kristiene is patterned after my best friend, and for the record, so is Nicole. Patterned after someone that is.ü The idea for the t-shirt belongs to someone else, and I'm so sorry if you think I ripped you off. I'll try to find your pen name and post it, OK? Sorry! I just thought it was really cool! Forgive me! *wails*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nicole bounded down the staircase from the 5th floor music room, oblivious to the stares people were giving her. She was plugged into her tiny purple MP3 player and was nodding slightly in time to the music, making her pigtails thrash wildly behind her. She was wearing a black spag strapped top under her school blouse, which was completely open, exposing the sapphire blue jewel on her navel piercing.  
  
Today she had put blue and pink streaks in her already highlighted blonde hair, making her look like a lost pixie. Her black painted fingernails tapped the beat of "One Girl Revolution" on the banisters and her Mary Janes clunked loudly, her denim messenger bag with a hazard symbol slamming into her butt every time she took a step down.  
  
"...I'm a one girl revoluuuution.... Some people see the revolution but most only see the girl. I can lose my heart and freedom if my fear defines my world...."  
  
She flew down the staircases and ran straight into Freddy, who was still Indian-seated at the windowsill. "Whoa," Then she giggled. "Hey Freddy," She pulled her earplugs off and stuffed them into her pocket.  
  
"Hey, Nix," he greeted, grinning. He was acting like he hadn't just seen her 20 minutes ago.  
  
She stared up at his face. "You need to change those bandages," she stated, biting her lower lip.  
  
"Right," he swung around to face her. "But I don't have-"  
  
"I have some in my bag, hold on." She slipped the strap off her lithe body and slammed the bag onto the windowsill. She fished around in the mess for a while then finally pulled out a small black box with Emily the Strange stickers all over it. She pulled out a the little strips of bandages for Freddy's cuts as well as some cotton and a small blue vial.  
  
Freddy watched her curiously. "I never got to ask you what's in that stuff," he said, pointing at the vial.  
  
"Then ask now," Nicole said. Both of them laughed.  
  
"Fine, what's in the mysterious blue liquid?" he asked exaggeratedly.  
  
Nicole went closer to him and motioned with her hand for him to lean towards her so she could take off the old wrappings. She peeled one off, making Freddy wince. "Oops, sorry," she apologized. "Well," She continued peeling off the ones on his other cuts. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the religious type. I'm not an atheist or whatever, even if my last school totally labeled me as one,"  
  
She sighed, and Freddy let out a soft "Ow" as she pulled one off too fast. "Oh shit! Sorry! Anyway, I'm a Wiccan, so I tried a few spells on the liquid. It's worked pretty well for Zack so far. I mean, his bruises have faded a lot in the past week haven't they?" she smiled.  
  
Freddy wrinkled his nose as she poured some of the liquid on a piece of cotton. "You mean I've been putting frog guts and lizard intestines or something on my face all this time!?" he cried exasperatedly. He jumped up as she attempted to put some on his face and almost sent a junior's science project flying.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop being such a baby, Freddy,"  
  
"Why? It's fun!" he grinned as he sidestepped around her.  
  
Nicole grabbed the end of his shirt and pulled him back before he ran down the staircase. "Fred-dy!" she whined. "Come back here!"  
  
Freddy spun around and caught her elbows, grinning in that annoyingly smug way only he could pull off. "Why do you care so much about me anyway?" he queried, raising his eyebrow expectantly.  
  
Nicole scowled and pushed him away. "Fine then, I won't care!" She stuffed the box back into her bag and swung it around her shoulders. "Ciao," she hissed, taking brisk steps past him.  
  
He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Come on, Nix, I was just kidding around. I'm touched, OK?" He leveled her with his gaze, smiling warmly. "Don't go off all pissed. You know I was just messin' with you,"  
  
She was still frowning but starting slapping (literally SLAPPING) back the little strip bandages on his forehead. "I know, I know. Classic Freddy attitude," She glared up at the taller boy, trying to set him on fire with her mind.  
  
"Classic Freddy attitude?" he repeated, grabbing her wrist before she poked out his eye or something.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I've been sitting next to you for a week now, and I'm proud to say I'm a good judge of character," She grinned smugly and sat down on the sill.  
  
Freddy sat down beside her. He couldn't help but smile. "So what do you think of m-... the class and this school so far? I'm sure it must have been so much cooler in MSAT,"  
  
She gave a small nod and shrugged. "MSAT was off the hook, I swear. I learned everything I know from that school. I loved theatre, singing, band, sports, everything. But I'm not saying Martin High isn't cool coz it is. I just never really thought about Maths and French class much,"  
  
"I'd give anything not to think about Maths for even one day," Freddy groaned. "And now I have to pass Bio or else I get kicked off the soccer team,"  
  
"Bio?"  
  
"Biology. Don't tell me you didn't have science in MSAT?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"We did! It's just...we weren't really graded," She propped her elbows up behind her, watching people pass. "By the way, what's with Summer? Does she have an agenda against all of the new students or should I feel special?" she asked with false zeal.  
  
Freddy shrugged. "I've been wondering about that too. Maybe it's because you spend a lot of time with Zack," he suggested, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Could she tell that he liked her? But for the first time ever, he didn't have the confidence to ask her out. Ever since he was a kid, girls just lined up for him. Before the band started, it was because he looked like that Draco Malfoy dude in some book, then after it was because of the bad boy persona and attitude. Well, it wasn't his fault he was born handsome, he told himself, grinning inwardly.  
  
"Zack's great," she said after a while. "He's such a great guitarist,"  
  
He gulped, wanting to ask the question that had been floating in his mind all week but afraid to hear the answer in case it was the one he didn't want to hear. "Do you... do you..."  
  
"Do I what?" Nicole raised her eyebrows at him, smiling amusedly.  
  
"DoyoulikeZack?" he finally sputtered.  
  
Her baby blue eyes went wide in surprise. "Zack? Hell no! I mean, he's a great guy and at MSAT he'd be so drooled over, but he's not my type. Normally I dig the whole depressed poet thing, but I'm sick of it. Zack's a great friend but he's more of a big brother friend. Am I making sense?" She looked up at him helplessly.  
  
"Yeah, kind of. You like Zack but you don't like like him," Freddy clarified.  
  
"If you want to put it in grade school lingo, yeah," she laughed.  
  
"So do you like anyone in school?" He asked, hoping he looked indifferent about the issue.  
  
She shook her head, smiling slightly. "I haven't really thought about it. Before I left New York I broke up with my boyfriend there, and I'm just enjoying not having anyone to look out for but myself. I heard he hooked up with my best friend, and I couldn't be happier for them." She looked up at his face, lit by the setting October sun. "How about you, anyone you like in school?"  
  
"Yeah, but I don't think she even knows I exist,"  
  
"Oh, stop being dramatic," She grinned. "Wait!" Then she gave a false gasp. "Freddy Jones is being dissed by a chick?! The earth is going to break open and swallow us all alive!" she cried in a falsely panicky voice.  
  
Freddy tried to glare at her but he was laughing at how stupid she looked, stopping passers-by and telling them that the world was about to end because "Freddy Jones has lost his mojo, baby!" in an Austin Powers voice. "Oh, shut up and sit back down, Nix. You're scaring people," he called, grabbing the back of her school blouse and trying to pull her back towards the windowsill.  
  
Instead, she slid off the blouse so she was now standing in the middle of a busy stairwell in nothing but a tank top and Martin High's black and red pleated skirt, screaming something about Armageddon because he had 'angered the Gods and they are punishing him in the most ego-diminishing way possible'.  
  
He jumped up and wrapped his arms around her and put a hand over her mouth, trying to pull her away. "She's mental, honestly!" he told a senior in a solemn tone, trying to keep a wriggling Nicole in check. Once everyone left he let go of her. "God, you're insane, you know that!?"  
  
She took a bow and grinned at him. "Thank you, thank you!"  
  
"Come on, Nix. That wasn't funny! Now the whole school will think I'm..." He shuddered. "incompetent or something,"  
  
"Aw, come on, Freddy!" She swung an arm around his neck. "No one will think that because it's a well known fact you're one of the hottest guys in the school, OK?"  
  
He could hear his heart beating in his throat. It suddenly didn't matter about his reputation as long as she liked him. Did she like him? Her last statement sounded like she did. But he didn't want to hope. Freddy had never been rejected yet, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. But the thing was, why did he even like her? She looked just like a majority of the girl's at school, minus the highlights and the piercings. Did he really like her that much?  
  
"So are you gonna walk me home or what?" Nicole's voice pierced through his thoughts and when he finally came back to reality he found her holding his bag out to him, eyebrow raised and blue eyes piercing. In that moment he knew the answer.  
  
"Yeah, sure. I'll walk you."  
  
~*~  
  
Katie stared at herself in the full-body mirror in her sister's room, eyes focused on finding something wrong with her outfit. She was wearing a long black skirt with a gothic silver design around the hem and a gorgeous silver top she'd loaned from her sister. It was fitted around her chest but silver gauze fell freely around her stomach and on her arms, where it had been too loose so she tied it to her elbows with black ribbon. She leaned closer and wiped away a little smudge of mascara under her eyes.  
  
"You look fine, Kitty," Kristiene, her older sister by two years, said from her four-poster bed. "Stop being so obsessive compulsive," she muttered as she resumed flipping through her guitar-tab book.  
  
Katie smiled at the nickname but tried to look pissed. "I'm going out with Freddy tonight, all right? Sorry if I'm being such a spaz about it all," she apologized, voicing out what she had been feeling all day.  
  
Kristiene gave a loud gasp and leaned up on her elbows to look at her younger sister. "Shut up!" she cried, purple lips breaking into a wide grin. "Oh my gosh, I so told you this day would come for you, Kitty!"  
  
Katie let out a sigh and sat down on her sister's bed. "Yeah...now that it's finally happened it's so hard to accept. Am I talking insane now?" she gave out a dry laugh that didn't last very long. As expected, Kristiene sat up properly and massaged her younger sister's back.  
  
"No, sis. It's perfectly normal. You haven't gone on a date since that scumbag Joseph back in 8th grade, so it's normal that's you'd have the jitters," Once Katie had muttered an agreement, Kristiene couldn't help but get all the details out of her younger sister. Truth be told, she always thought Freddy was hot, even if he was 2 years younger. "So where are you guys going off to tonight?"  
  
"Steps," Katie replied with a grin as Kristiene rearranged the jewels in her hair.  
  
"Ooh, Saturday night fever, huh?" she smirked. Katie pinched her thigh. "OOW! Fine!"  
  
The doorbell rang. Katie jumped up and started panicking.  
  
"Oh my gosh, he's here! Where's my bag!?"  
  
"Here,"  
  
"Where're my shoes?"  
  
"You're wearing them,"  
  
"Do I look OK?"  
  
"You look beautiful, Kitty. Now go! Don't keep your one true love waiting!" Kristiene scolded.  
  
Katie kissed her on the cheek and grinned. "I'll fill you in when I get home! Bye sis!" and she ran downstairs; ready to go on her first date with Freddy Jones.  
  
~*~  
  
"Wow," Freddy greeted as Katie opened the door. She looked...stunning. There was no other word for it. In more than a decade he had never seen her in any skirt other than the school one, and he was glad to see her like this now. "Lookin' good, Posh Spice,"  
  
Katie grinned, almost beside herself with joy. "Not too shabby yourself, Spazzy McGeek," she managed to say, and it was true, even if it was an understatement. He had on a black t-shirt that read 'ROCKSTAR LOOKING FOR GROUPIES' and a regular pair of jeans; not too loose, not too tight, and a beaten pair of Nike shocks. "Where's the batmobile?" she asked, referring to his '81 black Oldsmobile.  
  
Freddy offered his arm, wearing an appraising smirk. Katie took it, muttering a sarcastic 'thank you'. "It's parked on the curb," He gave her the once-over again. "Why are you all dressed up? Not that I'm complaining, I'm grateful for the eye candy,"  
  
Katie elbowed him and pouted. "So it's wrong to get dressed up now?" she demanded.  
  
His blue eyes went wide. "You were planning on going naked? My, Posh, I would have preferred that!"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Don't you ever think of anything else aside from sex, Freddy Jones?"  
  
"No, not really," he said, and then laughed. "Hurry up, Posh Spice!" He pulled her faster down the sidewalk  
  
"Why?" Katie asked, striving to keep up with him in her 2-inch high strappy black heels.  
  
"Coz the other's are waiting," Freddy answered.  
  
Katie's eyes went wide. "The others!?" she repeated in barely a whisper as the front of his car came into view.  
  
The hood was pulled back and Zack shot up from his seat in the back. "Posh Spice! You're looking hot!" he catcalled, dark eyes shining. He was wearing a worn black t-shirt with Metallica on it and such loose jeans that they looked like they would fall off if he stood up.  
  
Katie almost sighed in relief. So 'the others' was just Zack. It wouldn't be so bad. She was hoping to spend the whole night dancing with Freddy but with Zack Attack around, it would be just like old times.  
  
"Posh Spice huh?" Another voice called. A second later Nicole's blonde head popped up beside Zack's. "Wow! Katie, your outfit rocks!" she added, seeing Katie.  
  
"Thanks," Katie muttered, trying to keep the scorn out of her voice.  
  
However great she had thought she looked, it was nothing compared to Nicole, who was wearing an old vintage lace dress and a black corset with silver clasps. Her pink highlights had vanished and now the ends of her stylishly messy blond hair were dyed blue to match her eyes. Her feet were propped up on the shoulders of the passenger's seat and she noticed the messages written in whiteout on her combat boots.  
  
Freddy opened the door for her and she stepped in, shooting him a glare. He didn't notice.  
  
"Off to the club and a night full of fun and se-"  
  
"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE, FREDDY JONES!"  
  
Laughing, Nicole leaned forward. "Katie, I love your skirt! Where'd you get it?"  
  
Shocked that the ever-stylish Nicole would like something she had, Katie replied in what she hoped was a friendly tone. "I got it from this cute little place down by the Riverview Mall. I love your dress!"  
  
"Thanks! I made it myself," the shorter girl showed Katie her bandaged fingers. "After I finally understood how the sewing machine worked, that is," she added, sticking her tongue out.  
  
"Nix, sit down!" Freddy called, focused on the road. "Properly, I mean. Watch the leather,"  
  
Zack looked up from strumming on his acoustic guitar. "You call this leather? When you bought it you told me it was cow-ski-"  
  
"SHH!" Freddy snapped.  
  
The rest of them laughed. Silence fell after a while as they drove. Zack and Nicole were sharing her MP3 player, and Zack was playing the chords on his guitar. Katie wished they weren't there so she and Freddy could talk freely. The truth was, she missed him. Ever since their sophomore year started, everyone had been so distant. Freshman year, they had stuck together, but now everyone had friends outside the band while she didn't. She was starting to feel lonely and nostalgic.  
  
"Can I borrow that?" Soon the opening chords for "Hanging by a Moment" echoed through the car.  
  
"Desperate for changing," Zack started singing. He had gotten a lot better vocally over the past years. Katie twisted around in her seat to watch him. "Starving for truth, I'm closer to where I started; I'm chasing after you, I'm falling even more in love with you, letting of all I've held on to. I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you,"  
  
Freddy started tapping his hands on the steering wheel.  
  
"Forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete. I'll take your invitation; you take all of me...."  
  
"I'm falling even more in love with you, letting of all I've held on to. I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you," Nicole joined in. "I'm living for the only thing I know, I'm running and not quite sure where to go, and I don't know what I'm diving into, just hanging by a moment here with you,"  
  
Zack again. "There's nothing else to lose, losing else to find.... There's nothing in the world that can change my mind. There is nothing else, there is nothing else, there is nothing else...."  
  
Nicole started plucking. "Desperate for changing, starving for truth, closer to where I started, chasing after you...."  
  
By now all four of them were singing. "I'm falling even more in love with you, letting of all I've held on to. I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you I'm living for the only thing I know, I'm running and not quite sure where to go, and I don't know what I'm diving into, just hanging by a moment here with you..."  
  
~*~  
  
"Ow," Katie winced as someone stepped on her toes. Freddy looked back at her, worried.  
  
"What happened?" he asked over the din of the crowd.  
  
She was surprised he heard her. "Nothing, just someone stepped on my toes-"  
  
"Who?" Freddy demanded, eyes narrowed as he looked around.  
  
Laughter bubbling in her throat, Katie put a comforting hand on his shoulder, surprising herself. She felt a slight tingle in the pit of her stomach, noting how hard his muscles seemed then instantly felt ashamed. "Let it slide, Freddy,"  
  
Both of them turned back to watching Nicole talk to the bouncer.  
  
"Miss, I'm sorry but you're not on the guest list," he kept saying.  
  
Nicole looked so angry that her normally pale face was flushed. "LOOK!" she screamed, pissed. "I'm on the bloody guest list!! Do you see the name 'Nix' there!? I THOUGHT SO!"  
  
"Is there a problem here?" A man around his mid-30s approached them, looking like he totally didn't belong in a gray Armani suit. He caught sight of Nicole and grinned. "Miss Nicole! What a surprise to see you here,"  
  
"You may like them, but I don't like surprises, Rickfort. I told Uncle Tom I was coming today, now would you please get this oaf out of the way so me and my friends can enjoy ourselves?" Nicole snapped imperiously.  
  
The man named Rickfort nodded slightly. "Yes, of course," he said with a smile that seemed forced. You could tell he wanted to kill her right then and there. "Follow me, I'll free up the VIP lounge for you,"  
  
"Yes!" Freddy whispered, pumping his fist.  
  
Zack and Katie laughed as he almost smashed a guys 'privates' in doing so.  
  
Zack sat down on a plush black leather couch and bounced on it. "Wicked, Nix. I've never been to this part of Steps before,"  
  
Katie sat down as well and, causing her sudden blush, Freddy sat down beside her. "That's all well and good for you, but I've never even been here!" she said.  
  
Nicole turned back to the group from ordering them drinks. "Anyone have any specific requests? Beer? Long island iced tea? Anything alcoholic?"  
  
Freddy slung is arm over the side of the couch and turned his head up towards her. "Anything with alcohol in it is fine,"  
  
Katie frowned, lips pursed. It was one habit she'd gotten from Dewey that she'd never been able to get rid of. "Aren't you going to drive?" she asked him, looking worried.  
  
He slung an arm across her shoulders and grinned that infectious grin of his. "Don't worry, Zack's supposed to drive us back. But if he's too wasted by the end of tonight, Nix's driver can give us a ride. IN A LIMO!!"  
  
Katie had never ridden in a limo before, just the back of Dewey's old space wagon, so she was looking forward to this, hoping that none of them would really be wasted. Trying not to smile, she finally said, "If you say so,"  
  
"That's my Posh Spice!" Zack beamed from the other couch as Nicole passed him a tall light blue drink that was slightly smoking.  
  
Nicole finally sat down and passed around drinks to all of them. "I think you'll love this, Katie. It was something the bartender made up called a Pink Poodle. I know the name's so corny and shit, but it really blows your mind...." She passed Katie a smaller tumbler that was different shades of pink. "And it's good for you too!" she added with a grin.  
  
Zack downed half his glace in one gulp, but Freddy looked like he was fighting an internal battle with his. He was just glaring at his tumbler as if he wanted the contents to vanish by itself.  
  
"What's wrong?" Katie asked after taking a sip of hers. Nicole was right, it was really good. It didn't taste like alcohol at all; just like melted cotton candy that was slightly less sweet.  
  
Freddy turned his gaze towards her, eyes still intense from his mental struggle with the bar drink. "I've had...very bad experiences with alcohol." he stated.  
  
This made her laugh for some reason. "Like what?" she asked over the fresh wave of dance music as the DJ resumed his position behind the turntables.  
  
"Ooh, I love this song! Anyone wanna dance with me?" Nicole squealed, jumping up and looking over at the two boys.  
  
Freddy finally took a sip of his drink and was about to offer when she turned to Zack.  
  
"How about you, Mister 5 Star stoner?" she asked with a playful grin.  
  
Zack looked up from staring moodily at his drink. "I don't dance well," he told her, but this just made Nicole grab his arm and try to drag him down to the dance floor.  
  
"Well, that wont do now will it?" She grinned at him. Zack relented and let her drag him off to do God knows what. After all, what kind of guy would pass up a dance with a girl that looked like a supermodel? Even if he didn't know how to dance...at all.  
  
Now alone, Katie didn't know whether she wanted to kiss Nicole or slap her along side the head for vanishing. She turned back to look at Freddy, who was steadily devouring his drink. She wondered if he was going to ask her to dance. After all, that was why they were here, right? To be together?  
  
Her stomach felt queasy at the thought. Or maybe it was just the drink.  
  
Freddy finally opened his mouth as a remix of Usher's "Yeah" blasted through the speakers. "I know you aren't really dressed to dance or anything-" Ouch, Katie thought, glancing at her heels. "but do you wanna dance with me?"  
  
"Sure," she agreed with a shy smile.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I have to end it here for now. *wails* But tell me what you think by clicking that little button down there.ü Pretty please with sugar on top? YAY! Thank you sooo much!  
  
I still don't know what pairings I should do...o_0; should I ask 'The Man'? Hahaha.ü  
  
Rocker_gurl- aww, thanks, but I have kind of different plans. *wink* I shant say more! Nyahahah!  
  
Operate- personally, I'm a Zack/Katie shipper, but I'm still a bit confused. Heehee.ü  
  
Joanne- thanks for the advice and don't worry, no mistakes.ü  
  
Wyverna- OC means original character.ü I was thinking maybe I should make Katie a perfect character for her.... What do you think?  
  
Chocl8chps- yes, Evanescence rocks! I love them sooo much! Sorry if my other reviewers are getting annoyed at me any my little obsession...heehee.ü  
  
LCJ- maybe, maybe not...come back and review me again to find out! *hugs*  
  
Jessica- you're the only one on my side!! *wails* hehe, but thanks!ü  
  
Blondie0276- don't worry, more of Summer in the next one. *hugs*  
  
Wiseoldman- are you really a wise old man? *wonders* heehee, thanks!ü 


	6. The Date Part 2

Disclaimer: I OWN FREDDY!! Nyahahaha! Well, I did earlier when I took a nap...*pouts* "Let's Get Retarded" belongs to another of my fave bands, Black Eyed Peas.ü "Head Over Feet" belongs to the great Alanis Morisette, and the game belongs to me and my friends after we made it one Friday night when we were all bored and wasted. *cackles evilly*  
  
Author's Notes: you should know I'm just making this up as I go along, so this story has no point whatsoever. Nyahahahaha.ü  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"They're so cute together, aren't they?" Nicole asked Zack with a smile as she motioned her head towards Freddy and Katie, who were arguing good- naturedly a little ways away from the dance floor.  
  
Zack followed her gaze and smiled as well. "Katie's been in love with Freddy for as long as I can remember," he stated as she moved her hips in time to the music. He couldn't stop staring at her.  
  
Nicole laughed. "You're a pretty good dancer, Mooneyham," she complimented, her cherry pink lips breaking into a wide grin. "And you told me you couldn't dance!" she added, pretending to look scandalized.  
  
Zack placed his hands on her hips and spun her around so that they were moving simultaneously to the beat. "What can I say," He felt her lean into his chest so that her hair was flying like charged electricity around them. "I lied,"  
  
She laughed again and raised her hands as the music changed to "Lets Get Retarded" by the Black Eyes Peas. "Hold on to your pants, Guitar God, I'm gonna teach you a thing or two about freestyle dancing," Her butt suddenly moved away from him as she twirled and rested her arms on his shoulders, hips moving sinuously in time with the music. She was mouthing the lyrics, "And the base is runnin', runnin' and runnin', runnin'..."  
  
By the time the chorus came everyone was staring at them. Zack was following her as best as he could, but she was a really good dancer. After a while, people were singing the lyrics, egging her on.  
  
Nicole was positively glowing. She was totally in her element. She started moving around the small space that had cleared for her and danced with everyone, trying to get them back to dancing. Katie and Freddy pushed their way through the crowd and Nicole grabbed their hands, laughing.  
  
"Well, dance, you idiots!" she cried. She put Katie's hands on Freddy's shoulders and his on her hips and pushed them so close together that Katie could feel Freddy's heart beating. Satisfied, Nicole went back to dancing with Zack.  
  
Katie looked up at Freddy's face, which was grinning back at her. At that moment, Katie couldn't have been happier.  
  
~*~  
  
"Oh my God, that was so wicked." Katie squealed, surprising herself. She had never been one to get excited over little things, and the night had started out so sucky that she was expecting to go home and cry about it all. Surprisingly, she had a great time. Hanging out with Freddy was pretty cool and they ended up dancing for a while then goofing off and getting drunk.  
  
Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of their small group. Freddy was lying down on the car seat opposite her, and Nicole and Zack were in the back, arguing about something. It was obvious that the alcohol was getting to Freddy because he kept laughing at nothing, and truth be told Katie was feeling really light-headed.  
  
"Fine, you take the last cig," Nicole relented.  
  
Zack stared at her then at the unsmoked and slightly bent cigarette in his hand. "Wait, cant we pass by a Seven Eleven or something?"  
  
Nicole started giggling uncontrollably then stopped just as abruptly. "Zack, honey, you're a genius!"  
  
Then Freddy started laughing. "You two are such idiots,"  
  
Zack glared at Freddy. "Shut up, Spaz,"  
  
"You shut it, Zack Attack,"  
  
"You smoke?" Katie suddenly asked. She was listening to the first part of their conversation but completely tuned out the rest.  
  
Everyone started laughing. "Katie, darling, I think you drank one too many of those Purple Poodles," Nicole commented.  
  
"Pink Poodles," and for some reason this sounded so funny that Katie started laughing so hard that she collapsed into insane giggles on the limo floor.  
  
"OK, we're all drunk," Zack said, stating the obvious once Katie took a deep breath so that she wouldn't suffocate herself.  
  
Nicole stopped playing with his lighter and looked up. "My dad's out of town, you guys wanna sleep over? Besides, I don't think any of you want to go home to your mommys and daddys shit-faced,"  
  
Now Freddy started laughing. "Shit-faced!" he repeated and stood up, banging his head on the roof.  
  
Nicole tossed him her tiny blue Nokia cell phone. "Call your 'rents, I'm locking you in our basement and I'm never gonna let you out." And then she cackled.  
  
Once everyone had the all clear from their respective parents, they drove back to Nicole's house, which was on the other side of town.  
  
~*~  
  
"Welcome to Hell," Nicole announced wearily when the car pulled up in front of a huge wrought-iron gate.  
  
"Your house has a name," Katie whispered. It was the first time she'd been to the other girl's house.  
  
"Guys name their cars and even their penises, so my father named his house,"  
  
Katie snorted at hearing the word 'penis'. God, Nicole had such audacity. She was so shameless but it didn't come off as something bad. It was probably just the way she was.  
  
They climbed out and settled in a file on her large marble porch. Nicole punched a few buttons on the tiny electronic dial and the majestic wooden doors opened to reveal a rather thin man in his mid-30s wearing a prim tux.  
  
"Miss Nicole," He greeted, opening the doors completely. The blond girl ushered them into the humongous entrance hall, almost as large as a ballroom.  
  
"Hey sis!" a boy called as he descended the stairs. He had long-ish hair up to his ears and he was wearing a Rasta colored shirt and sweat pants. "Hey," he greeted Katie, grinning.  
  
Damn, he was cute.  
  
"Mitch," Nicole nodded and brushed her hair out of her face. "This is Katie, and you already met Zack and Freddy," She motioned to her companions. "Katie, this is my younger brother, Mitchell." She was placing a strange emphasis on the word 'younger'.  
  
Katie smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you," Thankfully, she managed to remember her manners despite her being totally drunk.  
  
Mitch turned to Zack and Freddy, who were now arguing over who had less dirty shoes. "You guys staying over?" Both nodded. "Cool, you can crash in my room,"  
  
Nicole was now sitting on the floor, trying vainly to take her shoes off. "Mitch, we have, like, 4 guest rooms. Besides, your room is a hazard zone."  
  
"Fine, whatever. I got a new stash if you guys want it," he said to the two boys, jiggling his keys.  
  
His sister eyed him suspiciously. "Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm taking the Spider to Rick's place, be back by tomorrow. Don't worry, Phoenix." He bent down and kissed Nicole on the cheek, then yanked her shoe off. He grinned and slouched off, vanishing into a door off the hall, which Katie assumed lead to their garage.  
  
"The Spider?" Katie asked.  
  
"It's this custom-made bike he had made a few months ago when they vacationed in our summer house in LA," Nicole explained, standing up barefoot. They discussed the sleeping arrangements, and decided on the guys staying in the room that they first did ("You've been here before?" "Yeah, it's really cool here.") and Katie and Nicole staying in a different one because Nicole claimed her room was just as bad as Mitchell's.  
  
Nicole promised to give her the grand tour the next morning and excused herself and Zack so that Katie and Freddy were left alone again in their den.  
  
Freddy flopped onto the couch and turned on the TV. His hair was hanging limply in his eyes and his t-shirt was rumpled and tight in all the right places, showing off his finely toned chest. Katie sat down in a Lazy boy (sp?) and stared at him. His eyes were slightly glazed as he stared lazily at the TV screen, but they were still such a brilliant shade of blue that she couldn't take her eyes off him. His nose was straight and nothing spectacular, but she found the way it turned up a bit in the end adorable. Right now his lips were pressed together and his eyebrows drawn like he was thinking of something serious. Katie wondered what it could be. He had the neatest eyebrows she'd ever seen on a guy, but that was beside the point.  
  
"Kaye," he called, not looking at her.  
  
Snapping out of her daze, she sat up straight and averted her eyes, hoping he hadn't caught her staring at him. "Yeah?" she replied, pretending to be interested in the infomercial that was now flashing on the huge 72" TV screen.  
  
Freddy paused. Katie was his best friend aside from Zack so he could talk to her about anything, right? He'd known her since they were in diapers, for God's sake. She knew more about him than he did, so why was he acting so shy now? "I want your opinion on something,"  
  
Katie could hear her heartbeat echoing in her ears. "Shoot,"  
  
"I like this girl," Freddy began, choosing his words carefully. "But I don't think I stand a chance with her. Do you think I should still ask her out?"  
  
Could this be? Katie hardly dared to hope and chose her words just as carefully. "Well, I think you should go for it," she said, being careful not to look at him lest her eyes give her away. "If you're meant to be together, then she'll like you too. You'll never know, right?"  
  
Freddy finally looked at her, eyes shining. "I'm sure you wanna know who that girl is, huh?"  
  
Katie tried to look indifferent. "If you wanna tell me,"  
  
He opened his mouth again, but Zack chose that moment to make his entrance. "It's 10:30 on a Saturday night, and we're sitting at home!" he yelled.  
  
Nicole came in after him. "What do you guys want to do?" she sat down beside Freddy and rested her head on his shoulder.  
  
Freddy's heart rate went up from 65 to 110.  
  
"Drink," Zack suggested, taking a drag that diminished about half of his cigarette.  
  
Nicole suddenly sat up straight. "I know! we can go swimming!"  
  
Zack and Freddy grinned at each other. "No objections!" they said in unison.  
  
~*~  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Katie was dressed in one of Nicole's swimsuits, a two-piece electric blue one. She was paddling her feet in the water, staring intently at the ripples it caused.  
  
Freddy was holding his breath underwater, wearing Mitchell's blue board shorts. Zack was sitting it the Jacuzzi, smoking to his heart's content.  
  
SPLASH! Nicole cannonballed into the pool, making Katie jump and fall in as well. Freddy finally surfaced and Zack almost burned himself. Nicole's blonde head appeared next to Katie's, taking a huge gulp of air.  
  
"Well, that was fun!" she grinned. She swam back to the side of the pool and took a sip of her margarita. "Whoo, head trip,"  
  
Katie swam over to her and took a sip as well. "Wow, that's pretty strong, I feel like I just swallowed perfume or something,"  
  
Nicole laughed at her. "Don't blame me! Freddy was the one who mixed these!"  
  
The only male in the pool slashed water towards them. "Hey!" he said indignantly.  
  
Nicole looked scandalized. "You got chlorine into my drink!" she screamed. "You asshole!!" She jumped on top of him and they started wrestling.  
  
Katie, feeling like a third wheel, jumped into the Jacuzzi with Zack. "Hey, Zack Attack, you look like you could use someone to talk to," she greeted, smiling warmly. Damn, the alcohol was really getting to her.  
  
Zack smiled slightly. It was fun to watch Katie get drunk. "Really now? And what do you think I need to talk about?" he said, drying his hands on a nearby towel so that he could light another cigarette.  
  
Katie thought about that. "Maybe we could talk about why you're dissing Summer!" she said, her voice overly perky. She wasn't acting very Katie- ish, but she didn't seem aware of that.  
  
The older boy looked up at her, his brown eyes suddenly devoid of any warmth. "I'm what?" he demanded.  
  
"Well, she's been crushing on you for a really long time now, and you don't seem to be doing anything about it," Katie replied, oblivious to the edge in his voice.  
  
Zack took a long drag, thinking about what she was saying. Sure, Katie was drunk, but she was right. He had never really given it much thought. Summer had been shamelessly flirting with him since 7th grade, and he'd always just dismissed it as something she would grow out of. Indeed, over the years she'd thrown away every guy after a mere 3 or 4 weeks. He had no idea that Summer had, well, real feelings towards him.  
  
"You look constipated," Katie commented, then she giggled.  
  
Zack started laughing as well. Might as well think about life some other time and enjoy it for now.  
  
~*~  
  
Freddy grabbed Nicole's shoulders as she jumped on top of him so that her body slammed into his. She wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him underwater. Freddy took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. When he finally opened them, he found her grinning at him, her hair floating like clouds around her, making her look ethereal.  
  
They finally surfaced. "Are you drunk yet?" Freddy asked her.  
  
Nicole looked back at him from fumbling in her bag, which she'd dropped on the poolside, where they were standing right at that moment. "A little bit," she admitted with a giggle. "How about you?"  
  
Freddy nodded, simultaneously shaking his hair out of his eyes. "I'd laugh my ass off right now if I didn't think I'd drown,"  
  
Nicole laughed. "And a cute ass it is, what a pity," she said sarcastically. She finally fished out what she'd been looking for; a tube of lip-gloss. "This is really good. Tastes like candy, want some?" she offered as she put some on her own lips. She licked them and grinned at him. "Strawberry,"  
  
"A taste?" Freddy clarified, moving closer to her so that his hand rested on her hips and the side of her arm was against his chest.  
  
Nicole turned to look up at him, eyes wide in surprise. Freddy Jones was making a move on her! 'Oh my God, oh my God,' Nicole thought, panicking. Normally, she would be thinking along the lines of 'about time!' but this time it was a bit different. She couldn't and wouldn't deny that she liked Freddy, because she did. Ever since the first moment she saw him, actually. But Katie was in love with him! She couldn't go against a friend! It was, well, wrong! So very, very wrong!  
  
'How could it be wrong when it's him?' a tiny voice in her mind asked as she looked up into his infinite blue eyes.  
  
Before she knew it, he was leaning down towards her, and his soft lips were on hers. It was just like that. The kiss was so pure, so innocent, it was like it didn't even happen. Then she was asking herself, 'Yeah, what could be so wrong about something as perfect as this?'  
  
Freddy pulled back a bit, just so that he could see her reaction. Her eyes were still closed, lips still slightly pink. He pressed his lips together and licked them, savoring the taste. "I'm sorry about that," he muttered.  
  
Her eyes finally opened and she stared at him, suddenly realizing the full gravity of what had happened. Nicole stared down at the water and at her feet, which were visible, then glanced over at the Jacuzzi, where Katie and Zack were still talking. She could feel heat behind her eyes then she forced herself to look at Freddy. "So am I,"  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: PHEW! Anyways, now you can flame me! Heehee..ü I'm telling you, I have plans for this fic! *dodges tomatoes*  
  
See the button? PRESS IT!ü 


	7. The Date Part 3

Disclaimer: I own the title because it's the title of one of the songs I wrote (but I DO like the song "tangerine sky"ü, and no, it doesn't signify anything. At least, nothing I've thought of. "No Boundaries" was just too corny for me, I don't know why I even thought of it.xp), I own Nicole and her brother and her house, but I don't own anything that really has to do with SoR. Sad, really.  
  
Author's Notes: squeals Someone likes Nicole!! Hear that, KawaiiHagakeNinja?? SOMEONE LIKES MY OC!! Nyahahaha.ü  
  
Sorry if this is a bit short or something, I've been away at some youth camp my mother made me go to. grumbles but I'm back and have updated!ü so please review me! Thanks so much to all of you! I love you all!ü passes out chocolate chip cookies  
  
P.S. OH YEAH! I really WAS stumped for a cool dance club name, so I ripped off "Save The Last Dance". Sorry! For the record, it's one of my fave movies.ü  
  
Zack entered the den, still drying his hair with a towel. He had to admit, tonight had been one of the best nights he'd had in a long time. Shit had been getting pretty monotonous for a while now. It was all just school, sports and the band. Everyone had been shocked when he joined the basketball team. Well, he had to find something that could kill time. Freddy had soccer, Katie had art class, Summer had...well, everything, so that meant he could have basketball right?  
  
Even the band was on the rocks. No one seemed to want to think about it or talk about it, but it was sitting sweetly in front of them. Dewey was always taking trips out of town, Summer was getting more and more unreasonable, thinking it was her responsibility to take charge now that Dewey was hardly ever around. And slowly, everyone's attention was drifting from the band. It was a rare occurrence now that they had practice with the complete School of Rock. He wasn't even sure if it existed anymore.  
  
'See, man? This is why you shouldn't think,' a voice in his head said knowingly.  
  
Maybe it was true. He'd never really been into anything, well, wrong before. It wasn't really like he hadn't been brought up properly in what his mother would call a 'safe environment', which was why they'd sent him to Martin, one of the top school's in the country. But then, this was all up until he talked to Dewey.  
  
!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!!#!#!#!#!Flashback  
  
"Zack Attack," Dewey nodded, smiling. It was his normal greeting every time they saw each other. Zack slipped into the plastic seat across from his mentor and idol, and nodded in greeting. He had never been much for words. "Thanks for meeting me out here," Dewey said, staring down at the dark brown liquid in his mug.  
  
"No problem," Zack mumbled in response, trying to read the man's expression. Silence fell between them as the sounds of the small diner echoed emptily around them. The small bell by the door gave a small tinkling sound as people came and left, but the sound was the most prominent among the din. Zack wondered why that was.  
  
Dewey finally looked up and looked the 16-year-old straight in the eye. "Zack, I've been thinking about the band..."  
  
Zack smiled, trying to shift the conversation into another direction. Whatever Dewey had to say, he didn't want to hear it. He didn't know whether he was afraid or he wanted to keep the delusion that everything was just as it had been before.  
  
"Yeah, I know, I have too. And I think we're doing great, don't you? I mean, Tomika's been even more awesome ever since she took those classes at Yamaha," he said with enthusiasm he didn't really have. The truth was that Tomika had been going to extreme lengths to try to get thinner, and it was more than affecting the band.  
  
Dewey still looked sad. "Zack, I know you're not stupid. So would you just listen for a bit?" Zack immediately shut up and stared at him. "Aw, c'mon, Zack!" Dewey complained. "Don't look at me like that!"  
  
"Like what?" Zack retorted, keeping the look of innocence on his face.  
  
"Like I'm the bad guy for being the first to say that the band isn't working," Dewey finally said then immediately regretted that he had. "Look, it's not you guys, it's me. Each and every one of you are insane with talent, and here I am, fat and old. I'm holding you guys back, and I'm sure you'll do a lot better without me in the picture. Don't interrupt me yet, Zack," He held up a hand to silence him. "You guys can call me a major coward and I'm sure Spazzy'll wanna kick me, but I'm leaving. I'm moving to LA. If you ever have a concert there, look me up,"  
  
Dewey stood up and smiled at Zack, who just stared at him, hardly daring to believe what he had just heard. The older man looked uncomfortable for a moment then he just clapped a hand on Zack's shoulder.  
  
"You'll do great, Zack Attack. The band's yours now,"  
  
!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!!#!#!#!#!End of Flashback  
  
Zack shook his head, as if doing so would get rid of all the memories and all the pain. He slouched down onto the plush couch beside Freddy, who was watching MTV Cribs and scowling like there was no tomorrow. They could hear Nicole cursing in the kitchen along with the sound of porcelain smashing and pans clashing. Katie stood up to help her.  
  
After a few minutes, the two girls appeared in the doorway, holding two large pitchers of drinks each. "Let's play a drinking game!" Katie exclaimed excitedly.  
  
Nicole suppressed a sigh. The only reason she made the drinks was so that she could get drunk and shit-faced so that she wouldn't have to think about the pool scenario with Freddy, but if they wanted to play, she would too. Groan, the responsibilities of a hostess.  
  
Zack slid off the couch and sat down on the rug beside Katie, who was tugging at the sleeves of the sweater Nicole had loaned her. "Sure, what game?"  
  
"I know!" Freddy surprisingly volunteered. "Truth or dare,"  
  
"Oh, that is so grade school," Katie whined. "But we could add a few twists!" she added with a slight grin.  
  
Zack raised his eyebrows. "Like what?"  
  
"Well, what if someone says something they're never done before, and those who have take a shot of this stuff," The brunette pointed at the pitchers. "And then the one who hasn't has to do a dare. What do you guys think?"  
  
Murmurs of assent echoed and Katie smiled at all of them. "Yay! Who wants to go first?"  
  
Nicole shook her head when Katie asked her to, because she seriously didn't want to participate in anything that had to do with Freddy. She didn't really know why but she just didn't. and not only that, what if Katie asked her about something, like the kiss for instance? Aargh, she wanted to rip her own hair out at the thought.  
  
"Fine," Zack agreed. "I'll go first," His eyebrows drew together in concentration as Nicole swept past him to dim the lights and put on music. "Umm, I've never...gone skinny-dipping? Yeah,"  
  
Surprisingly, Katie, Nicole and Freddy each took the shot. Zack gawked at Katie. Katie? Posh Spice? Wholesome and reserved Katie Brown had gone skinny-dipping? Gasp.  
  
"Katie!?" Freddy asked incredulously.  
  
The girl just scoffed. "The rules don't say anything about explaining,"  
  
"That's because they're YOUR rules," Freddy pointed out.  
  
She tossed him a dirty look. "Oh whatever, Spazzy McGeek. The dilemma at hand is what should we make Zack do?" she said with an evil grin.  
  
Nicole suddenly perked up. "I say we make him go skinny-dipping right now!"  
  
Zack laughed. "Seriously, what do I have to do?" The three of them exchanged looks and then turned to Zack, grinning evilly. You could swear there was this dark, evil aura surrounding the three of them for a moment. "WHAT!? NO!! I AM NOT DIVING INTO THAT POOL BUTTNAKED AND ALONE!" he yelled.  
  
All three of them dived onto Zack, stripping his clothes off. Then Freddy grabbed the skinnier boy and tossed him outside to the pool.  
  
Katie and Nicole were laughing so hard they forgot to breathe. Then out of nowhere, Nicole produced a video camera and taped the whole thing. "Oh, this is priceless. 'Martin High student goes streaking in Palm Springs'," Nicole said as she focused the camera on a very embarrassed Zack.  
  
Freddy finally had enough sense to let Zack back inside and they all apologized. Zack, still red in the face, just downed a whole tumbler and lit a cigarette, muttering something about "never hanging out with these whack-jobs ever again".  
  
This made them laugh even harder but soon they stopped because Zack snapped something about it being Freddy's turn.  
  
The blonde turned extremely pale at this. He chanced a look at Nicole, who had suddenly found the ceiling quite interesting. What would he ask? His eyebrows drew together in thought despite his head screaming at him not to think. (Honestly, why would you even TRY to think when you're drunk?) "I've never...not told anyone that I lo-...like them,"  
  
Zack let out a long breath. "Wow, I'm shocked at your honesty, Jones," he commented right before he took another shot.  
  
Katie and Nicole each took theirs. "So what dare do we make you do?" Katie asked eagerly.  
  
"Well that's easy," Zack snorted. "Make him make out with Nix,"  
  
"What!?" Nicole sputtered, choking on the drink.  
  
Zack laughed and grabbed the video cam. "Oh, very attractive, Nicole,"  
  
The younger girl glared at him and pushed the video cam down. "Go to hell, Mooneyham," she muttered, wiping her chin.  
  
"All in due time, Mathers," he replied, infuriatingly unaffected.  
  
Nicole just rolled her eyes. "Why me? Why is it always me? Make him make out with Katie, for God's sake!" she whined, pulling her knees up to her chin and hugging them.  
  
"Oh, don't be such a baby, Nicole!" Zack complained. "I'm sure Spazzy McGeek's not THAT bad a kisser,"  
  
"HEY!" Freddy punched Zack hard on the arm, making him wince and rub it.  
  
"FINE ALREADY!" Nicole shot up and grabbed Freddy's shirt, dragging him to the direction of her kitchen. He followed, dazed at her sudden change of mind.  
  
Katie and Zack, who had been sitting opposite each other, stared after them.  
  
Freddy stared at his feet, not sure of what to say. Finally, he forced himself to look up at her.  
  
Nicole was sitting on the marble counter top, swinging her legs back and forth so that the heels of her bunny slipper-clad feet banged against the cabinets. She was staring down at her bare legs as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. Her semi-curly hair was messy and flying in all directions, but most of it was pulled into a bun with a pair of chopsticks. She looked like the epitome of chaos, but he thought she looked fascinating, like he'd never seen anything like her before.  
  
"Look," she finally met his gaze. "I'm sorry about that thing by the pool. I just really wasn't expecting that, you know? And, well, I don't know! I just felt bad about Katie,"  
  
His eyebrows went up. "Katie? What about her? What does she have to do with this?"  
  
"Um, everything?!" She looked expectantly at him, but he just shrugged. "You and Katie have been friends for, like, your whole lives, right? Don't you think feel something else for her after all you've been through together? Anything more than camaraderie or whatever the hell you call it? ANYTHING? Coz, y'know, maybe she feels something else for you now. And if you did-"  
  
Freddy shook his head. "Nicole, I'm drunk, sleepy, confused and hurt. If you're gonna say something, just say it. Damn everything else,"  
  
She sighed and leaned back on her palms. Tap. Tap. Tap. Her heels slammed against the wooden cupboard. Finally, she spoke. "I'm not the little miss perfect you think I am, all right?" she spat, as if the words hurt her. "I'm just another blond head in that preppie school for wanna-bes. Do you honestly want that? Or do you just think we'll look cute together as a couple? Coz if it is that, then you're just like everyone else. Everyone treats me nice because they think I'm pretty and this perfect little girl with everything going for her. Is that why you like me?"  
  
He shook his head. "I don't know why I like you," he confessed.  
  
"You're an idiot then," she stated, but she was smiling. "Look, even if the odds weren't against us, it wouldn't have worked out. We both have bands competing against each other by December, there's your fan club," She grinned at him. "and, I dunno, just a lot of other shit,"  
  
"Ever heard of the phrase 'against the odds'?" Freddy snapped, looking a bit angry.  
  
She stared back at him, eyes wide open in surprise. She'd never seen him angry before. He'd always just been, well, cool about everything. Nicole stared down at her black AC/DC tee, for the first time in her life not knowing what to say. Why did this have to be so hard?  
  
"Look, Nix, I'm sorry. Maybe you're right..."  
  
"Damn right, I'm right," Nicole affirmed, looking strangely triumphant but sad at the same time. She wanted everything to be like it was the day before. Just having fun and messing around, none of this sentimental shit.  
  
"Will you let me finish?" He wanted to glare at her but couldn't. He started drumming his hands on the counter top beside her, feeling restless and antsy. The alcohol was catching up. And fast. "Maybe you're right," he said again. "but I don't believe you."  
  
Nicole sighed and took off her chopsticks, letting her hair fall around her face. "OK, you want the truth? I felt like I was betraying Katie when you kissed me. If you aren't aware of it, Katie's mad in love with you. Always has been, according to Zack. So why don't you just ask her out or something? At least she likes you back."  
  
"You mean you don't like me?"  
  
She yanked her hair and looked at him desperately. "No, I didn't say that! I like you but I can't go against Katie by going out with you! So what if you kissed me, it was just a kiss, right? It's not like we're hooking up! So go out there and make-out with Katie!" She looked like she was on the verge of strangling him.  
  
Freddy stared down at his hands as they tapped some frantic beat on the marble. For some reason he grabbed the chopsticks and used them as sort of drumsticks, tapping the beat of "Smells like teen spirit".  
  
"Well, say something," Nicole pleaded from beside him.  
  
Freddy sat on the marble counter top as well and hugged her. "You know, you didn't have to tell me that. I know about Katie," he mumbled, noticing guiltily how her hair smelled like citrus and lilacs.  
  
Shocked, the shorter girl's mouth fell open. "What!? Then why in the hell did you do that thing in the pool?" she demanded, pulling away from him.  
  
"Because I didn't care about Katie at that moment. All I cared about was you. I don't like you because I think you're pretty and some other shit like that. I think we fit together. Like pieces of a puzzle. You know when you try to force this one last piece into it by twisting it? I don't have to do that with you. Everything about you just seems to fit. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" He looked at her helplessly.  
  
Nicole felt her stomach drop a few meters. "I do, actually."  
  
"Then why can't you just give it a chance? If it doesn't work out, I swear I'll never bother you about this ever again."  
  
She frowned. "Never again?"  
  
He realized what he had said. Could he even go a day without talking to her? "Er..."  
  
"You can't not talk to me. You love me because I'm gorgeous and perfect and you want me so damn bad!" Nicole stated teasingly, nudging his shoulder and making them both laugh.  
  
"So is that a yes?"  
  
"Maybe," she smiled coyly.  
  
"Stop playing with me! You're just too mean!" Freddy whined, marveling at how he was acting remarkably like a 5 year old.  
  
Nicole rolled her eyes. "Fred, can't we please just go back to the way things were? I mean, weren't we having fun then and shit?"  
  
"If I answer your question it's just gonna bring us back to square one. Either you like me or you don't. It's a one-word answer, Nix, its not that hard," He sounded pissed, and she couldn't blame him.  
  
She stared down at her feet and wiggled her toes, making it look like the bunny on her slipper was wrinkling its nose up at her. She was dimly aware that Freddy was staring at her feet too. "Fine," she breathed. "I like you. Happy?"  
  
"Very," He finally grinned at her, making her stomach do a flip-flop. Whoops. Not a good sign.  
  
"But wait! This doesn't mean that-"  
  
"Nic?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Shut up." And he met her lips in another kiss. This time it was far from innocent.  
  
"Ungh..." Katie moaned, trying to bury herself back into the blankets. Dang, it was so cold even for October. She finally climbed out of bed, her head spinning. The smell of incense assaulted her nostrils as she made her way to the open balcony window.  
  
Nicole was Indian seated on the railing, the back of her palms flat against her knees and her thumb and middle fingers touched. Her eyes were closed. Was she meditating? Her hair fell straight and was blowing slightly in a non-existent breeze.  
  
"Nic?" Katie groaned, feeling her throat stick. Never ever get drunk again, Katie Brown, she told herself. It was her new mantra.  
  
The younger girl's eyes opened and she grinned. "Morning, Sunshine," She hopped down and Katie saw that she was wearing surf shorts and a sleeveless white top, despite the cold. "You all right?"  
  
"Yeah, what were you doing?" Katie asked. She was wearing a pair of Nicole's silk blue pajama bottoms and a white Led Zeppelin tee.  
  
"My way of getting rid of a hangover," she replied, tossing Katie the blanket she had brought outside with her.  
  
Katie wrapped it around her, muttering 'thanks'. Should she ask her about last night?  
  
"Nicole, I was just wondering..." she began. Katie Brown was not good with confrontations. "if..."  
  
"If?" Nicole prompted, trying her hair into a high ponytail.  
  
"IF YOU HAVE ANY CIGARETTES LEFT?!" Zack's voice came from the balcony beside them. He was leaning over the railing, looking like he hadn't slept all night. His white t-shirt was rumpled and his shorts were creased in about a million places, not to mention birds could've nested in his hair and he wouldn't have noticed.  
  
Nicole grinned and tossed over her case. "You don't have to yell, we can hear you fine. Go down and eat breakfast, Mooneyham! Chef made your fave pancakes!"  
  
Fave pancakes? Katie didn't even know Zack liked pancakes.  
  
"Freddy's still sleeping!" Zack called back, now rummaging in his pockets for his trusty lighter with the skull and green flame.  
  
"STOP YELLING!" She screamed. "Can you show Katie down then?" Turning to the other girl, she said, "We don't really eat in the kitchen where we made the drinks. Its so much more fun to eat outside, so Zack's gonna take you there, RIGHT ZACK?"  
  
The older boy muttered something incoherent as he took a long, life-giving drag on his cigarette. "Meet you out in the hall, Posh. Oh, and prince charming's still asleep, so maybe you should go get a fog horn and end his beauty sleep."  
  
The two girls laughed and made their way out to the hall.  
  
A/N: Short chapter? Heehee, tell me what you think, then! See the button? Press it!!ü  
  
Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I'll update as soon as I can after jazz class tomorrow!ü 


	8. The Morning After

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my URL at diaryland.com. heehee.ü  
  
Author's Notes: I remade this chapter, so I hope you guys like it. (looks nervous)  
  
P.S. no, I don't think they get morning breath. After all, this IS a fic, so I control their world, and I say morning breath doesn't exist! Hahahah! (maniacal laughter)  
  
==================================  
  
"Freddy?"  
  
Grunt.  
  
"Freddy!"  
  
Bed sheets rustling.  
  
Splash!  
  
"AAAHHH!"  
  
Freddy shot up in the single bed, hands frantically trying to wipe the ice- cold water off his face. He finally opened his blurry blue eyes to find Nicole standing in front of him, grinning with a tumbler in her hand. "What did you do that for!?" he demanded despite himself. It was hard not to be cranky when you didn't get enough sleep.  
  
The girl just kept that insane, happy look on her face as she set the tumbler down on the bedside table. "Well, traditional methods weren't working, and Zack's gonna finish all the food downstairs if you don't get up soon," she stated smugly.  
  
Freddy groaned and buried himself back in bed. "I'm not a vampire like you! I need sleep!" he complained, grabbing a pillow and covering his head.  
  
Nicole pouted. "You're such a baby, Frederick Jones,"  
  
His hand shot up and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into the mountain of goosedown comforters and pillows. She gave out a small yell but let him pull her in, and she pulled the blankets over them and twisted around so that they were facing each other.  
  
"Morning," she smiled after a while. She would never admit it, but it gave her a strange thrill just to be this close to him. He was so...pretty! Not in a twisted psychopathic way, but he was like one of those Giordano models you see on billboards or in movies, except here he was, lying down next to her, his blue eyes on her like she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. She hoped her eyes showed the same thing for him.  
  
"Morning," Freddy yawned, lifting a hand off her waist to cover his mouth. "D'you have a good night's sleep?"  
  
She laughed. "You're asking a normal question like that? You got a hang- over or something?"  
  
Freddy grinned. "Nope, not really. Pray tell, what would a Freddy-ish question be?"  
  
She shrugged, which was considerably hard because they were lying on their sides. "I dunno.... Something like, 'did you see the Angel of Death in your dreams last night'?"  
  
"No, that would be a Zack question to ask," Freddy corrected. They both laughed. They spent a few more minutes in silence then he finally closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep. Nicole kissed his nose and snuggled into the pillows.  
  
A few more minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt. 


	9. Phoebe

Disclaimer: I own zip. Nada. Except the rockin' outfits. Hahaha, joking!ü  
  
Author's Notes: Yeah, this is sposed to be a Freddy/Katie fic, but can you please go along with the plot!? (exasperated) Thank you!  
  
Orange/orange: unh, thanks.. I think?ü  
  
Mellowyellow36: (cowers in fear) it's in the plot thingy we drew up! I'm sorry! (sobs)  
  
Sassy-4eva: maybe, maybe...  
  
Katie4freddy: again, plot line..  
  
JustvisitingUKgirl: umm, ok?..;  
  
Jessica: I love you! Hehehe.ü  
  
Yingyanggirl: what were YOU thinking, using the crappy Nelvana version of CCS? Sorry, but I'm so totally against the Nelvana version. It's so full of crap. The original Clamp manga version is oodles better.  
  
Chocl8chps: have I told you recently how much I love you?ü  
  
Kawaii-Hokage-Ninja: like the rewrite?ü Oh, and sorry for the misspell. Duely noted.ü  
  
Stickit2da-maniosis: did I spell that right? Er, sorry. Wait, why is it sad? Unh...(looks uncomfy) does everyone hate me now?  
  
Jewelkitten: (gives ferrero rocher chocolates) thank you thank you thank you!!ü  
  
(hands out chocolates to everyone) you'll get more if you review after this! (wink)  
  
==============================  
  
A girl with long raven black hair with the ends dyed hot pink leaned against the lockers, her long, tan face pointed into a frown. She was wearing a pink and black fitted jersey with the hem torn and freyed so it exposed her toned stomach, black jeans that were cut really low so that you could almost see her underwear, and black ankle-high leather boots with symbols in day-glo pink all over the heels. She was tapping her foot impatiently, arms crossed over her chest and scowling, so no one dared to ask her why she was there at the risk of having their heads bitten off.  
  
"Alexandria Nicole Moore Mathers!" she yelled, finally seeing the only blonde head she had been waiting for.  
  
The girl twisted around so fast that her neck cracked. Her hand went up to rub it unconsciously as she scanned the dense dismissal crowd for the one who had called her. It was impossible for anyone here to know her whole name, and the voice had sounded hauntingly familiar... (A/N: cheesy line..;)  
  
Finally the girl with the pink highlights approached her, and it seemed the crowd had parted just for her. "You little bitch!" she cried, grabbing the blonde by the shoulders and shaking her, but she was smiling.  
  
"Phoebe?!" Nicole managed to gasp, her eyes too dazed to try to pry the other girl's hands off her. "Oh my God! What in the hell are you doing here!?"  
  
Phoebe rolled her eyes, thinking the question didn't merit a proper answer, so instead she looked her best friend up and down. "What happened to your hair? Why's it all blonde and perfect?" she demanded.  
  
Nicole reached up to touch her newly straightened and highlighted hair and laughed. "I know! Isn't it a kick? Olsen Twin hair!"  
  
Instead of laughing, the taller girl simply frowned. "You so totally did a 180 on us, Nic! What happened to the chicka who totally hated what you've become!?"  
  
"She's still around and having a kick! C'mon, Phoebe, cut the drama. Why're you here anyway? Aren't you guys in the middle of a school year?" Her eyes were looking surveying the people around them, and no one seemed surprised that someone like Phoebe would be talking to her. She held in a sigh and turned back to her best friend.  
  
Phoebe ran a hand through her hair and leaned against the locker Nicole had been standing in front of, assuming it was hers. "I heard you guys got into that ROCKapella tour thing, so I decided to come down to this little farm place and check you guys out. What band you with?"  
  
"Ravyn. Remember Aaron and the others came down here just for the auditions? And this ain't no 'little farm place'. Stuff is actually pretty cool here."  
  
Phoebe ignored the other girl's last comment. Since when did she refer to backwards towns like this 'pretty cool'? Instead she let out an impressed breath. "Wow, Ravyn huh? They're pretty good, congratulations on getting in,"  
  
"Why are you suddenly all formal and nice? And seriously, why're you here? You're not shallow enough to come here just for that, Pheebs, I know you," Nicole hitched her messenger bag higher on her shoulder so that the back of the pins wouldn't cut into her skin. She glanced again at the crowd around them, and now people were starting to stare. Dammit. She wasn't ashamed to be seen with Phoebe. Of course not. In fact she thought the other girl's highlights were adorable. But being seen with her and questioned about it would mean a lot of explaining and that was something she wasn't up for.  
  
The taller girl sighed and started twirling the ruby ring on her left finger the way she always did when she was nervous. She had come here expecting her best friend to still have dyed red hair and be totally against wearing her Pleasantville school uniform like they did when they were in MSAT, but they didn't really have uniforms so maybe it was a different story.  
  
Phoebe took a deep breath and began her explanation. "My mum went ballistic and tried to kill herself. Dad thought it wasn't safe for us anymore so he checked mum into a mental hospital and now he and Marie are over at my grandmother's. I just thought I'd hang with you here until everything blows over. I didn't want to stay at grandma's and I hated staying in the apartment alone. I called your mum and she let me stay in your room but then I started to miss you and I couldn't even call you after what happened and I had no one to talk to about this, not even at school so I-"  
  
Nicole pulled her hand away from her open mouth and hugged her best friend until she felt the other girl's bones had been crushed. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry! I should have been there for you! Shit! I'm such a crappy best friend! I should totally have dropped everything to call you back! Urgh!"  
  
Phoebe chuckled feebly and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, making her mascara smudge. "It's OK, but I'm here now so can I stay over for a week or something, Oh Great Olsen Twin?"  
  
Nicole finally let her go and slapped her arm. "You wench! Of course you can hang at the house for a while, if you don't mind being overly neglected by your oodles old and workaholic father,"  
  
"Nic, he's not my dad,"  
  
Nicole sighed. "I know, and count yourself lucky for that. Anyway, are you all right? I mean, were you the one who found your mum-?"  
  
Phoebe nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, face contorted into a grimace. "Blood everywhere, I swear. It would've made Hannibal Lecter proud,"  
  
The shorter girl laughed. "Right, Pheebs."  
  
Phoebe looked up suddenly and her eyes narrowed. "Who's the preppy blonde dude on his way to us?"  
  
Nicole turned around and grinned as the older boy finally got through the crowd and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Hey, Freddy," she greeted, feeling slightly dizzy but in a good way.  
  
Freddy kissed her on the cheek and grinned down at her as well. "Hey, babe," he greeted, taking her bag from her shoulder and swinging it around himself.  
  
Nicole smiled but elbowed him. "Babe?" she repeated, eyebrow raised. She was totally against sexism, especially from her boyfriend, but being called 'babe' by one of the hottest guys in school was still a kick, especially when he was sweet enough to help you with your bag without your having to say.  
  
"Um, sorry to interrupt your little love fest, but who the hell are you?" Phoebe cut in before Freddy could say another word.  
  
"Oh, shit. Freddy, this is my best friend from New York, Phoebe Bishop. Pheebs, this is Freddy Jones," Nicole introduced.  
  
"Her boyfriend," Freddy added, looking at her curiously. He shook Phoebe's hand, much to the other girl's apparent distaste.  
  
You could almost see the gears shifting in her head. "Unh, boyfriend huh?" She set an accusing glare at Nicole, who shrugged.  
  
"Later," she said vaguely.  
  
Freddy was standing there clueless. What the hell was up? He decided to ignore it and ask Nicole about it some other time. "Zack's already waiting for us outside, he said he'd give us a lift and sorry if I was a little late. Goddamn Algebra held me up,"  
  
Nicole smiled. "No problem, I didn't mind. And besides, Pheebs ambushed me here at school so we got time to talk,"  
  
Phoebe rolled her deep brown eyes. "How sweet," she mouthed sarcastically.  
  
The shorter girl glared at her but turned back to Freddy. "Is it aiit if Pheebs hitches a ride with us?"  
  
Freddy shrugged, disliking the girl more and more. "It's Zack's car, so whatever." He let go of her waist and reached out to open his locker. Phoebe sighed and got off it so he could do what he had to. He dumped some of his books in and checked his hair in the mirror hanging on the back of the door.  
  
Phoebe noted this and rolled her eyes again. She seemed to like doing that often around Freddy. She grabbed her best friend's arm and yanked her towards the lavatory, which was conveniently a few steps away since they were on the ground floor. She only let go once they were safely inside. "Explain yourself!"  
  
Nicole winced as she lost her balance and landed with a bang against the wooden cubicle doors. "Dammit, Phoebe, ease up will ya!?"  
  
"Sorry, girl, but what was all that shit out there!? Is that dude really your boyfriend? Please oh please tell me he's just the school idiot and you just felt like riding on to his silly little delusions, Nic!"  
  
"What's the big fucking deal, Pheebs!? He's my boyfriend, so what?"  
  
"The big fucking deal is that you're thick enough to get involved in another relationship after what happened with that dick, Jason!" Phoebe cried, her anger getting the best of herself. She had never gotten mad at Nicole, and this really was the first time. She cared about her too much to see her get hurt like that again.  
  
Nicole crossed her arms over her chest then thought better of it and rummaged around her bag for her packet of cigarettes. She lit one and paced the room nervously, avoiding her best friend's eyes. "Freddy's not like J- ...him, all right?"  
  
Phoebe's brown eyes narrowed. "See, you can't even say his name!"  
  
"So what!? He's not like him, all right? J-Jason was a total ass, Freddy isn't!"  
  
"What is he then?"  
  
"He's sweet, and funny, and-"  
  
"Nic, you said the same thing about Jason three months ago," Phoebe pointed out.  
  
Nicole sighed and took a drag. "They're different," she stated in a final sort of tone.  
  
Phoebe turned on a tap and washed her hands and face, trying to get rid of the smudgy mascara under her eyes. "You're still smoking those death- traps?"  
  
The other girl glanced down at her cigarette and smiled slightly. "I ran out of Mitchell's all-natural shit ones. You still remember those?"  
  
"Yeah, Benny's totally obsessed with them. Every time he sees someone smoking a normal cig on campus he shoves his tin under their nose and tells them to smoke one of his. It's stupid, really."  
  
Nicole coughed out a laugh and ducked into a cubicle. A second later Phoebe heard a flush and her best friend reappeared, her hands up trying to yank her new preppy hair into a ponytail.  
  
"Nix, how long have we been friends?" Phoebe asked, wiping her hands with the cheap brown paper towels in the lavatory.  
  
Her blue eyes widened in surprise at the question but then she shrugged and tucked her lighter back into the breast pocket of her school-required white Oxford blouse. "I dunno, since 5th grade so that's 6 years,"  
  
"Which means I know what's best for you, right?" Phoebe prompted, turning back to face the shorter girl.  
  
Nicole looked suspicious for a moment but she nodded. "Yeah..."  
  
"So please break up with that Freddy dude. I mean, come on. You haven't even recovered from what happened before, and you're in another relationship that won't work-"  
  
"How are you so fucking sure that it won't work?" Nicole cut in.  
  
Phoebe just smirked. "Nix, he's blonde and he's cute. Every chicka in this prep school is probably after him and let me guess, you two just hooked up? So yeah, totally. You're not gonna last."  
  
Nicole's eyes narrowed as she washed her own hands. "Thanks for the support, Pheebs," she muttered sarcastically.  
  
"Please, Nic? Break up with him before something really horrid happens again. And I know you haven't been together very long, so it's impossible for you to actually have any feeling for him, right?" Phoebe laughed as if the thought was ridiculous.  
  
Nicole twisted the tap closed and shook her hands off. She swept out of the bathroom without another word or second glance. Phoebe, surprised, followed, closing the door with a bang behind them.  
  
Metal clanged and rang shrilly in the empty bathroom as a door creaked open.  
  
Katie emerged, hand over her mouth in surprise at what she had just overheard. 


End file.
